Good Taste : Fair fare
By Eleni Collins
Published: August 20, 2009
If not for the rides, animals, or wandering through the judging hall, people go to the annual Agricultural Fair for the food: everything from cotton candy and caramel apples to loaded burgers and sausages. Here's a rundown on some of the booths.
Satisfy your sweet tooth with fried dough at the fair. File Photo by Ralph Stewart First, there are drinks, very important since it can be sizzling hot at midday at the fairgrounds. Find fresh-squeezed lemonade, Dancing Smoothie's fresh fruit creations, and South Pole Slush to cool you down. Vineyard Bottled Waters offers iced and hot coffee and mochas. Choose from more than 150 varieties of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate K-Cups for your drink of choice, made with their Keurig machines. They also give away Poland Spring Water.
New this year, the West Tisbury School's PTO is running a Chocolate Booth to raise money for the eighth grade's trip to England. Find iced coffee, brownie concoctions, and chocolate bread pudding.
An old standby at the Fair is the West Tisbury Fire Department's stand. People go year after year for their loaded cheeseburgers, and the money raised goes towards various charitable endeavors.
The Martha's Vineyard Touchdown Club Tempura stand is also a fundraiser, for the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School's football team and the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School cheerleaders. They fry vegetables, such as peppers, sweet potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, onions, and mushrooms.
There's ribs and more at BBQ Bill's booth, and French fries and corn dogs at the two Orlandi stands. Superfried Chicken serves exactly that, and find apples dipped in all kinds of toppings from caramel to nuts at Anthony's Apples.
Visit Cozy's Last Stand for hearty submarine sandwiches, such as sausage with green peppers and onions, and meatball.
Their fourth year in the fair, Emily and Deon Thomas (formerly of The Cornerway), operate the Deon's Restaurant stand with several Jamaican dishes: jerk chicken, braised ribs, gazpacho, scallion biscuits, Jamaican beef patties (turnovers with ground meat), plantains, and Ting, a carbonated grapefruit beverage.
And Bill Smith's Clambake brings seafood to the fair: clam chowder and tuna salad rolls, and also chicken wings and lemonade.
To top it all off, get a heaping bowl of strawberries, shortcake, and whipped cream at the Strawberry Shortcake stand.
The fair is at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury, and runs from Thursday, August 20 to Sunday, August 23, from 10 am to 11 pm (except Sunday: 10 am to 7 pm). Admission is $8; $5 for children. For more information, visit vas.vineyard.net.
