My 20-year old son, Evan, is a corn dog afficionado. Whenever we visit the Big E - or any other fair - that’s his go-to treat. So, with nearly all the local fairs postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic – just before press time the Three County Fair followed suit with the Big E and announced it would not be opening for the public this year – I’m definitely going to be trying out the corn dog recipe LA-based chef George Geary included in his cookbook – “Fair Foods – The Most Popular and Offbeat Recipes from America’s State & County Fairs”– which is the topic of Prime’s feature story this month.
Geary – whose credentials include guest appearances on “Hell’s Kitchen,” Anthony Bourdain’s “The Taste” and “The American Baking Competition” in addition to 28 years overseeing the food and culinary competitors for the L.A. County Fair (and eight years as a visiting chef/lecturer on the Holland America cruise line), told Prime he developed the book’s corn dog recipe early in his career while working as a pastry chef at Disneyland.
He added the park still serves the same corn dog recipe today – yum!
All the recipes in the “Fair Foods” cookbook – including the one for the decadent fried Twinkie® that is a part of the story – are Geary’s re-creations of the foods visitors find at their favorite town, county and state fairs. Geary said he took the time to develop the recipes for two reasons – one, to be certain home cooks could replicate the dishes and two – because fair food vendors often use shortcuts (eg. pre-prepared ingredients) to produce the treats quickly and in quantities.
Disney’s corn dogs weren’t the first time Geary was tapped to whip up a recipe destined for fame. In his early years the chef – who is also the author of “The Cheesecake Bible”– was called upon to whip up a batch of those creamy desserts for a popular T. V. show, “The Golden Girls.”
“I was in my early 30s and not realizing how iconic the show would become,” Geary shared with Prime. “We taped the show on Friday nights and I only stuck around once or twice. I kept thinking.. ‘Why would I want to hang out with four old ladies, (I am their age now). I made seven cheesecakes for the taping in case they had to retake the scenes.
“Really they were so professional, I think they only went through two cheesecakes. The rest fed the cast and crew at the end. I also made wedding cakes (The Pilot for “Golden Girls”) and other foods for the show.,” Geary
recalled.
I hope you enjoy Geary’s “Fair Foods” tale – and the recipe – in this month’s feature!
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As always, thanks for reading,
Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com
