Iowa State Fairgrounds

The Best and Worst Foods on a Stick at the Iowa State Fair | Eater

"An enduring, spectacle-driven annual fair that has turned food-on-a-stick into a central cultural phenomenon and a campaign-stage ritual. A dedicated online list catalogs dozens of impaled items (including 11 corn-dog variations), and vendors say putting products on a stick can boost sales by roughly 50 percent. The corn dog is the iconic, best-selling item, followed by the pork chop on a stick — whole-chop grilling is even used as a photo-op for presidential candidates — and other beloved skewered offerings range from brown-sugar pork belly and bacon-wrapped riblets to simple pleasures like a pickle on a stick. The event revels in novelty (deep-fried butter, caramel-dipped pecan pie) while producing both hits (the deep-fried brownie on a stick, the monkey tail frozen-banana treat, Cajun chicken on a stick) and conspicuous misses (a popcorn ball with M&Ms and an over-sugared funnel-cake-on-a-stick)." - Gary He