Fried Butter on a Stick at the Iowa State Fair - Des Moines

At the recently completed 158th annual Iowa State Fair, a new food had fair-goers buzzing during the 11 day run of the fair - fried butter on a stick. Actually, fried butter is not anything new, it's sort of a Southern delicacy and Paula Deen has featured a recipe for fried butter balls on her cooking show. But the fried butter on a stick at the Iowa State Fair was different - they basically took about a half stick of butter, put it on a stick, then covered it with a batter, then deep fried it for 3 minutes. Cindy and I went to the State Fair this year and we had to stop and get the fried butter on a stick just to give it a try.

But before we went to get the fried butter, we had to stop for the Holy Grail of all foods at the Iowa State Fair - a gizmo from Carl's Gizmo right behind the Administration Building on the fairgrounds. We had been talking to some friends of ours the night before about Carl's Gizmo and they know Carl's daughter, Carla Wood, and her husband, Kirby, who now run the booth. They were telling us that for less than one month a year - 11 days at the Iowa State Fair and another 12 days at the Minnesota State Fair (which always occurs directly after the fair in Des Moines) the Wood family makes enough money to live on for a year. The Gizmo's are a combination of Italian sausage and beef, topped with seasoned marinara sauce and cheese. (To see an approximate recipe on the Gizmo, click here.) Jalapenos, such as on the one pictured at left, are optional. I have to get one each time I go to the fair. They are outstanding.

We went to the information booth at the Administration Building trying to find out where the place that sold the deep fried butter was. The lady told us that it was just east of there in the triangle at the corners of Grand, Rock Island and E. 33rd in the fairgrounds. After a little searching among the numerous food vendors set up there, we found the little trailer.

The line was already long when we got there around 11:45 a.m. We were in the short line of about a dozen or so people, while the other line had far more people. I don't know if some of the people on the other side knew there were two sides for the line to get deep fried butter on a stick.

Larry Fyfe is the man who came up with the deep fried butter on a stick for this year's fair. Actually, fried butter was first introduced at the Texas State Fair two years ago, but to Fyfe's knowledge, this is this first time fried butter has been made available on a stick. To make deep fried butter on a stick, they take an eighth of an ounce of stick butter and put it on a wooden stick. They roll the butter stick in a batter that has a lot of cinnamon and honey in it, swirl it around until it gets fully coated (above right), then they dip it in a deep fryer for about 3 minutes.

Fyfe, who is from Des Moines, is no stranger to trying out interesting things to put on a stick and then deep fry. He also has deep fried Milky Way or Snickers candy bars on a stick. They, too, are coated in a batter and placed in hot oil for 3 minutes. I'm not a big fan of either of the candy bars, but those who have tried it says they're pretty good.

After about a 10 minute wait in line, we got up to the window and Cindy ordered a fried butter on the stick. This is what it looks like when it comes out and after they drizzle some frosting over the top to give it a little bit of a sugar punch.

And above right is Cindy taking her first bite into the fried butter on a stick. Before she got the fried butter on the stick, a lady who just got one came back to grab more napkins. "More napkins," she said. "You'll definitely need a lot of napkins." On the first bite, the butter literally shot out of the battered encasement. Cindy said, "Oh, my God!"

I said, "Oh, my God, good; or oh my God, bad."

She said it was more "Oh, my God, how messy!"

When I asked if it was good, she said, "Here! Try it!" She offered me a bite and the first thing that struck me was that it tasted like a deep fried cinnamon roll with a shit load of butter on top. And, oh man, was it rich. And messy! A lot of the butter had been soaked up inside the batter, but there was enough of it oozing around in the little carrier it was served in.

Cindy had two more bites and then said, "You can have it." There were only a couple of bites left and by this time the thing had fully come off the stick. I used my fingers to sop up what was left of the butter and drizzled frosting with the cooked batter. Afterward, I had to go to the restroom to wash my hands. It was a combination of stickiness and greasiness. And about 15 minutes later, I needed a antacid. And I don't think it was from the Gizmo. Well, it could have very well been a combination of both.

OK, so we tried the fried butter on a stick. We know it was an outrageous hit at the Iowa State Fair, based upon the long lines we saw even after we tried one and from reports from all over the U.S. and around the world that featured the fried butter on a stick. Will we try one again if we go back to the state fair next year? Doubtful. But like anything in life, you've got to try it at least once - no matter how bad it is for you. (Picture at right courtesy KCCI.com)

Comments

[Chris Bryant]

Thanks for sharing...I always wondered what it tasted like, so now I can try it vicariously through you.

[Jonathan Ingels]

The big thing here is fried Coca-Cola, but I don't know how that works...

[Shelley Kleinfelder]

John & Tom each bought one and we all tried it! It was gooey, greasy and all of the things that you said...and I got one bite and that was enough. Now we can say "We tried the fried butter on a stick!"

[Tom Wehrle]

Totally correct, tasted like a very buttery cinnamon roll. And after 1 bite I wished I had stopped at the Lutheran church tent where the ladies were baking homemade cinnamon rolls. We found out that 2 were more than enough for 10 people, we both threw away about a third. Next year the only fried item on a stick will be the iconic corn dog.

[Tom Wehrle]

Totally correct, tasted like a very buttery cinnamon roll. And after 1 bite I wished I had stopped at the Lutheran church tent where the ladies were baking homemade cinnamon rolls. We found out that 2 were more than enough for 10 people, we both threw away about a third. Next year the only fried item on a stick will be the iconic corn dog.

[Tim Lake]

We've had the deep fried butter balls down here in Alabama and over in Georgia. They're rolled in bread crumbs with nuts. They're OK, but I wouldn't go out of my way for one.