Fair fare: A look at some festivals famous for their food

Pete Poe, president of the SEMO District Fair Board, knows what he's talking about when it comes to fair food.

"When we talk about things like fair food, that's a treat," Poe says. "We could get most of those things throughout the year, but when it's all together in one setting, prepared in a mobile kitchen, there's something special about it."

He's right. A corn dog just isn't the same when it comes from a restaurant or your freezer.

Fairs and festivals fill the calendar from April through September in Southeast Missouri. Most have the standard smorgasbord of fried goodness: funnel cakes, corn dogs, spiral cut potatoes, onion blossoms, etc.

A few fairs, though, have a special offering that has mouths watering all year in anticipation.

The East Perry Community Fair is famous for mule jumping, truck and tractor pulls, and its food. People come to the fair looking for grilled cheese sandwiches served by Immanuel Lutheran Church members, or for whole fried fish sandwiches.

Fish sandwiches are also king at Sikeston's Cotton Carnival. American Legion Post No. 114 sponsors the event, and is famous for its fried fish. "People look from one year to the next to come back for the fish sandwiches," Gene Stroud, an officer with the Legion, said in a 2011 Standard Democrat interview. "The food tastes so much better out in the open, and I think everyone enjoys it. I know I do."

Chaffee celebrates German Days in August with always-popular fried chicken. "It's a Chaffee thing," Chaffee Elks Club member Chris Knutson said in a 2009 interview. "In Leopold you get kettle beef and chicken and dumplings. In Chaffee, you get chicken." The Elks Club puts on German Days and fries more than 750 pounds of chicken for the event.

Whatever you're craving, it is sure to be satisfied during fair season in Southeast Missouri.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN FAVORITES

"My favorite fair food in the whole wide world are the grilled cheese sandwiches at the East Perry County Fair in Altenburg....white cheese and YUMMY."

~ Gera LeGrand, sales and development manager

"Vinegar fries and lemon shake-ups! Vinegar fries are kind of a specialty at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. I also love fried pickles."

~ Robyn Gautschy, special publications assistant editor

"Corn dog. Also, I love the new cinnamon roll stand at the SEMO Fair."

~ Laura Simon, photographer

"I love a corn dog and meat on a stick -- any kind, it doesn't matter -- but saltwater taffy at the SEMO District Fair is the only fair food I've ever gone out of my way to get!"

~ Heather Collier, special publications editor