TAKE ME BACK

Nostalgic cravings at the Minnesota State Fair.

- BY HANNAH GOLDFIELD

For Minnesotans, the fair's offerings. sare a smorgasbord of Proustian attachments.

In the lead-up to the Minnesota State Fair, a twelve-day fête of starch and fat which marks the end of every summer, the event's organizers release a highly anticipated list of competitively decadent new fair foods. The débutantes of 2025 included chicken-fried bacon, Grandma Doreen's Dessert Dog (vanilla ice cream encased in slabs of coffee cake, on a stick), and the Uncrustaburger (with deep-fried peanut-butter-and-jelly Uncrustables instead of a bun). Other new entries painted a picture of Minnesota's evolving tastes and demographics. Baba's, a Palestinian American hummus company based in Minneapolis, unveiled the Fawaffle, topped with a generous scoop of tahini butter, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mint. A window run by Minneapolis's Midtown Global Market sold Somali Street Fries, smothered in stewy, spicy beef suqaar. Between snacks, I sipped a savory dill-pickle iced tea, garnished with a crunchy spear and a zesty Tajín rim.