In a recent post, I told you about wine-drinking opportunities at the 2014 Orange County Fair. I didn’t get a chance to go to the California State Fair in Sacramento this year, but I did have a couple of spies there.
Their mission, should they wish to accept it (and they did): try some of the OTFF — Out There Fair Fare — and report back to me with their findings. I thought it might be fun to hear about a few of their unusual finds, and then figure out what kind of wine would match well with them.
Wish me luck! Here goes…
- OTFF No. 1 —Chicken Waffle Tacos. They’re basically what folks in (mostly) southern states have been eating for years, except you can (should/must) pick these up with your hands. This dish calls for a white wine with a certain degree of richness, so my choice would be Chardonnay.
- OTFF No. 2 — Bacon-Wrapped Jack Daniel’s. A churro is infused with a shot of Jack Daniel’s bourbon, then wrapped in bacon and grilled. It’s served with maple syrup and whipped cream for dipping. As long as you don’t overdo the syrup, I’d opt for a rich Port. Skip the syrup altogether, and I could see eating this with a glass of (red) Zinfandel or a GSM (a Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre blend).
- OTFF No. 3 — Pork-a-Bello Mushroom Kebab. White mushrooms are stuffed with smoked Gouda cheese, stuck on a skewer, then wrapped in bacon and grilled. This dish is all about smokiness, and that calls for a wine that exhibits that characteristic. The red wines of France’s Côte Rôtie and Hermitage appellations would work well, as would many American renditions of Syrah.
