Top 5: Most overrated fair foods

One of the most overrated fair foods: bacon on a stick.

Some might say *all* the foods at the state fair are overrated. We wouldn't do that, but we do think some of the unquestioned staples deserve a little poke. Don't worry, we're not going to touch cheese curds and mini donuts (even though they might deserve it?). (There are sacred cows and then there are sacred cows, after all.) But we at Hot Dish do question fairgoers' devotion to some fair food regulars. We present you our Top 5:

1) Corn on the cob. Roasted corn is about as novel as a beer-boiled brat at your neighbor's barbecue. The 1:1 kernel per tooth ratio doesn't help. We recommend trying something something new. How about a Scotch egg? Plus, everyone knows the best corn comes from Iowa. Points for the fair's cob recycling though (awesome!).

2) Footlong hot dogs. What is it about big events and double dog length? Are we supposed to take that to mean there's something celebratory about footlongs? There's not. Most often they hang limply off either side of their buns, looking about as resigned as they taste. If you're going to do hot dogs at the fair, go with a corn dog, no question.

3) Swedish egg coffee. The unusual name implies there's something exotic about this fair feature, but newsflash: It just tastes like a typical cup of diner coffee. And we know coffee on a hot day is supposed to cool you off and all, but we don't really buy it. We like the barstools and slice-of-diner-life in the middle of the fair feel though.

4) Bacon on a stick. No matter how many napkins you use to sop up the grease, everything else you touch the rest of the day will take on a sheen and it'll be all you can do to keep things from slipping out of your hands. Stick with watching others wrestle a big hunk of fat off a stick while negotiating the crowds. Now *that's* entertainment!

5) Sweet Martha's cookies. Sure, they're a fair institution and taking them on is probably akin to trashing Joe Mauer, but, really? Sweet Martha's? Two thousand warm cookies on a hot day do not compute. Plus, $14? We will grant that they are pretty decent once they cool off, but at the end of the day they're indistinguishable from Soft Batch.