Must-Go! “Free Your Ethnic Inner Farmer” at the Orange Country Fair July 13- Aug 12

(Gerry Furth-Sides) American County Fairs are as old as 1772, and the Orange County fair brings all the excitement and nostalgia of the best of them.  A celebration of Orange County’s communities, interests, agriculture and heritage – not planned in a structured, stiff commercial way, but filled with the creativity and spontaneous imagination of all the participants. And, yes, there are all kinds of frozen treats for the hot weather and the usual “everything fried”.   Below are Australian battered potatoes!  //ocfair.com.

The OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa runs through Aug. 12, offering 150 acres of carnival rides, midway games, and food.  Airy, air-conditioned exhibit halls are truly a breeze for browsing, offering a look and often a sample of everything from products to buy to handmade crafts and cooking/baking contest entries. Barns of animals and a delightful kid’s pony ride (with beautiful little horses) are just a small part of the 150 acres holding carnival rides, midway games and a hall devoted to veterans.

Interactive takes on new meaning with the theme, ” Celebrate Your Inner Farmer”. Just about every engaging square inch of the 157,000 square foot space draws you in with fascinating information.

A year-around working farm with animals and crops greet you at the front OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, CA gate.

Strolling through the gardens (glorious flowers too!)  you can trace the very food you are eating back to its source (well, veggies and fruits and herbs anyway).

A day’s worth of lively exhibits, tours, and demos are in the Culinary Arts hall alone.  Everywhere you turn, there are eye-catching exhibits, food fact signs and food, food, food. A toy train set up to show the full range of farm to table transportation runs from one end of the room to the other.

When the trains are in motion (on a regular schedule) it draws people together.  The wonderful sounds of the whistles and bells permeate the room.

On opening day, Robert Schueller of Melissa’s Produce was on stage presenting  “The Exciting World of Chile Peppers” (how chipotle and ancho got their names) and “Exciting produce trends.”  Robert introduced more exotic fruits, dragon fruit and the big, wild-looking jackfruit – and how to use them.  He reminded us that Americans are still reluctant to try new ethnic things: the Persian cucumber had to be renamed the “mini-cucumber” for US market sales.

And all of the OC Fair it is fun.  The “cardboard” Robert Schueller is as live-life as you can get.   

SCAN the special tag to get information on your own computer from Melissa’s Produce!

Three Culinary Crawl Tour (“behind the scenes”) introduces the public to exhibitors in a personal way. Just sign up and follow tour guide extraordinaire Pam.  

Exhibitors include Culinary Magic, Mixology, OC Local Honey, Charcuterie, California extra virgin Olive Oil, The Fermentation Farm, DIY Kitchen Hacks, UCCE OC Master Food Preservers and Artisan Ray Duey, and M.O.F. and World Champion Pastry Chef StéphaneTréand of the Pâtisserie.  

A favorite bite of the day was Northgate Market’s spicy tacos.

UCCE OC Master Food Preservers offer kambocha tea and fruit teas — on tap!

French M.O.F. and World Champion Pastry Chef StéphaneTréand of the Pâtisserie offers our favorites canales!

OCLOCALHONEY owner, Christine Ferrian, is a devoted beekeeper & Honey broker.  Samplings were available to prove that even in Orange County, flavors of the flowers the bees visit was the message here.

The Fermentation farm (below).  Next to it, a wall of home-prepared jams and preserves (with a sign to tell the difference! Preserves are whole pieces.) The products are in the judging before the fair opens, their ribbons on display.

We were so honored to have two of our own aprons on the wall of vintage aprons from each decade. The tireless, imaginative, beautiful Culinary Arts Supervisor, Pam Wnuck created the changing display.  One was in our family in Europe, and one I made in the late ’70’s!

 

Pam also had a wonderful cookbook library “nook” with vintage cookbooks. Guests vote on their favorite each week. We learned that there is also a place now for our vintage cookbooks!  Thank you, Pam Wynuck!

And we were also thrilled to see a KIDS CAN COOK tent with a demo table.  This was the theme of our first TV campaign for California grows and the Fish Association 30 years ago!

 

The ride home – and for many days to come, was filled with images and memories of the fair.

  For more details and tickets (only $8 for adults), please see: //ocfair.com/whatsnew/tickets-sale-now-entertainment-2018-oc-fair/