by Rick Bavera

Created on: April 08, 2009   Last Updated: June 20, 2010

Festival Foods: "Feel Good" on the Run.

Festivals, fairs and carnivals are great ways to get out and have some out of the ordinary fun. They are also ways to have some out-of-the-ordinary yet traditional types of foods. Comfort foods. Fun foods.

The best festival foods draw on the traditions of the area in which they are taking place, or on some of the cultures represented in an area. My favorites are foods I have had in two widely separated places, western Pennsylvania and northern Arizona.

My festival favorites from Arizona:

Indian fry bread. Made from wheat flour, this simple dough is then formed into a flat round shell that is then dropped into oil and fried to a golden brown color. It can be eaten plain, or can be topped with sugar. My favorite version is what is known as a Navajo taco. The fry bread is topped with lettuce, beans, tomato, peppers, meat and salsa. The spicy smells carry on the breeze, calling all to come and taste. A taste of the fry bread itself is like a little piece of heaven, and when you add any of the various possible toppings, it is even better.

Tamales. The smell of mais (corn flour dough) mixed with pork or chicken or beef and some spicy peppers, wrapped in a corn husk, then roasted can be beat by just one thing. Opening up the corn husk, seeing the steam rising from the filling, and taking that first amazing bite, your mouth tasting corn, spiciness and meatiness.

Festival favorites from Pennsylvania are different, but just as tasty, just as aromatic.

Pierogies. These eastern European dumplings come with many fillings, and the best are always handmade/homemade. There is a "pasta pocket" made of wheat flour, and then filled with potato and cheese, or the tang of sauerkraut, or potato and onion. They can be either fried or boiled. A spoon or a fork and a bowl of six or twelve of these delicacies, and you are set for the afternoon.

Jiao zi. Little Chinese pocket dumplings. Their "big brother" is bao zi, a slightly larger version. They are pieces of wheat flour dough that are rolled into a circle, filled with things like pork and cabbage or Chinese leeks and cabbage, They are either fried or boiled, and come served with a soy-based sauce. These give off exotic smells for those more used to other traditional foods, thanks to the Asian spices included in the ingredients. Generally smaller than pierogies, you will get 12 or 18 in a bowl and chopsticks with which to eat them.

For a dessert treat, you could finish with an Italian pizzelle, a "waffle cookie," with a slightly sweet taste and understated orange, lemon or anise flavoring. These cookies that I remember from my childhood (when my Italian grandma would give us several bags filled with pizzelles for the holidays) are made one at a time. They have a subtle taste, are crunchy, and leave me with fond memories of childhood. A perfect ending to a perfect day spent out having some festival fun.

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