Carb Counters Have Become Fair Game
Everyone knows the temptations that lurk at a county fair: cotton candy, corn dogs, funnel cakes and the latest artery-clogger, deep-fried Oreos.
But take heart, dieters. This year’s innovation isn’t covered in sugar or dipped in chocolate -- it’s wrapped in lettuce.
That’s right, the bun-less hamburger, an Atkins-inspired dish, has weaseled its way into a place where self-indulgence reigns, the Orange County Fair, which runs through Aug. 1 in Costa Mesa.
It’s the latest indication that America is diet-conscious, said Tony Fiori, marketing and safety services director for Ray Cammack Shows Inc., the midway operator at the fair, which is now in its 112th year.
“Believe it or not, the fair industry has had to keep up with the low-carb diet craze,” he said. “So we looked into what we can do to provide alternatives for our customers,” adding that nearly every part of the food industry has had to cater to today’s carb-cautious eaters.
Jessica Rose, 11, is among the millions of Americans on the Atkins diet, which limits the intake of such carbohydrates as bread, pasta and sugar.
While most kids at the fair concentrate on finding the quickest sugar high, Jessica, who recently started Atkins, searched for the fewest carbs.
She walked passed the Food Bazaar toward the midway, then spotted the Burger Joint and its six-foot sign advertising the “new” lettuce-wrapped burger. Jessica was thrilled.
“At first you feel grouchy and it’s hard sometimes,” said the Beverly Hills resident about having to cut down on bread and sugar. “But I do feel better about myself.”
Most of the food stands serving sandwiches and hamburgers were pleased to lose the buns for customers.
“We’re more than happy to accommodate them,” said Helga Pliske, owner of the Fat Boy’s Diner stand, where the low-carb favorite is the bun-less Philly cheese-steak sandwich. “We just give them a lot of lettuce.”
Brenda Warren, who works at Fat Boy’s, was surprised at the number of people who had requested lettuce-wrapped sandwiches.
“It’s funny how even at the fair people are more health-cautious,” she said. “They just don’t want to eat the carbs.”
Atkins recommends that people eat less “stodgy” foods like bread, potatoes and pasta. Atkins dieters are supposed to limit their intake of food to meat, fish, poultry, eggs and cheese. In later stages, dieters can eat some grains and legumes. Is this the end of fair food as Americans know it?
Hardly, scoff fans of the fair staples. Fads will come and go, they said, but corn dogs and cotton candy will always be there.
“I quit my diet today and I’ll start again tomorrow,” said Lefia Alvial, 51 of Carson, while eating a piece of funnel cake. “I told my daughter that if I didn’t eat this today, I’d die.”
She wasn’t alone.
The smell of fried Twinkies lured Mark Grays to Chicken Charlie’s, which introduced deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos to the fair last year.
Since February, Grays, 35, has been on the South Beach diet, a spinoff of Atkins that calls for a slightly higher intake of carbs. He’s lost 35 pounds and hasn’t cheated in months. But he couldn’t resist taking a bite of the strawberry-coated Twinkie.
“This is a bad cheat,” Grays said, handing the Twinkie to his 6-year-old son, Demarco. “I’m only tempted when I see something that I have never tasted before even though I know it’s deadly for the long haul.”
But no fair favorite was going to make Ebonie Williams, 25, cheat on her low-carb diet. Not the corn dog glistening with grease. Not the deep-fried Twinkie covered in fudge.
“I won’t even lick my fingers,” Williams said, slicing a plate of funnel cake for the group she was with. “I love every kind of bread. But I won’t eat it. Not even at the fair.”
Still, most would agree that one day at the fair is their yearly ticket to the high-calorie pleasures. After all, a fair without hamburger buns is like a midway without kewpie dolls.
Nora Medina, 25, couldn’t wait to get hold of the sticky buns. But that’s for dessert. She bought a hamburger with the bread and without the guilt.
“Sure I’m breaking my diet,” the South Los Angeles resident said,. “but it’s worth it and it’s only once a year.”
