Deep fried pickle Oreos, tzatziki cheesecake among culinary curiosities at this year’s CNE

If the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) has taught us anything over the years, it’s that you can deep fry virtually anything.

That storied tradition continues at this year’s version of The Ex, with a slew of new culinary curiosities set to dazzle and confuse taste buds.

The deep fryers, as usual, will be working overtime.

This year’s menu includes deep-fried pickle Oreos, deep-fried butter chicken lasagna, a Kool-Aid deep-fried chicken sandwich, and the deep-fried birria taco bomb, to name a few (full list below).

There’s also some gargantuan treats to tickle and torture your intestines.

Hollow-legged attendees can dig into a footlong deep-fried mozzarella stick, a 15-inch diameter donut that weighs more than two pounds or a giant samosa stuffed with potatoes and peas that measures in at 12 inches.

If your heart is still beating, you can quench this all down with some lavender or jalapeno lemonade.

The Ex runs from Aug. 16 – Sept. 2, 2024.

Bring Tums.

Full list of this year’s unique foods: Source – CNE

The Twisted Pickle:

Pickle but with a twist! Spiral-cut dill pickle is deep fried till crispy and covered in choices of Flamin’ Cheetos or homemade Dilly Ranch sauce with crushed dill chips.

Vendor: Twisted Pickles, Concession

Avocado Coconut Ice Cream:

A tropical phenomenon of frozen dessert – avocado ice cream garnished with coconut shavings and a chocolate ball to reconstruct into the shape of an avocado and served in a coconut bowl.

Vendor: Soo Cute, Concession

Butter Chicken Corn Dog:

A carnival staple reimagined. A chicken hot dog coated with masala batter and drizzled with butter chicken sauce.

Vendor: Sam’s Grill, Concession

Ube Sesame Street Corn:

Take a bit of fire-roasted street corn coated with purple yam and sprinkled with cheese, sesame seeds, chili flakes, and spring onions.

Vendor: Sam’s Grill, Concession

Tut’s Plus 4 sandwiches and fries with Dukka:

A new Food Truck vendor! Four sandwiches are better than one: Grilled chicken, fried chicken, beef sausage, and falafel sandwiches all served with a side of fries and Dukkah spice blend.

Vendor: Tut’s Egyptian Street Food

Deep Fried Pickle Oreos:

Oreos and pickles are the newest odd pairing to be deep-fried.

Vendor: Sam’s Grill, Food Building

The Super Fly Noodle:

Be Super Fly while you slurp extra-large portions of “floating” sauced instant noodles topped with your choice of protein and unlimited toppings.

Vendor: Super Noodle Co, Food Building

Footlong Deep Fried Mozzarella Stick:

Mouth-melting 100 per cent Canadian mozzarella cheese served in a hoagie hotdog bun drizzled with all kinds of toppings.

Vendor: Pizza Pizza, Hall A at the Enercare Centre. 

Uni-corn:

Freshly roasted corn covered with rainbow-coloured queso.

Vendor: Freshly Roasted, Food Building

Lavender Lemonade:

Chill out with a unique mixture of lavender and lemonade garnished with a slice of lemon and fresh rosemary.

Vendor: Real Fruit Splash, Concession

Crème Brulee Chimney Cone:

Consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar in a hand-rolled traditional Hungarian Pastry ‘Chimney Cone.’

Vendor: Eva’s Original Chimneys, Food Building

Jalapeno Lemonade:

Refreshing lemonade with a spicy kick of jalapeno.

Vendor: Alijandro’s Kitchen, Concession

Deep Fried Butter Chicken Lasagna:

Hearty and comforting butter chicken layered in every bite of lasagna, and deep-fried.

Vendor: Rick’s Good Eats Food Truck, Concession

Kool-Aid Fried Chicken Sandwich:

Perfectly battered deep-fried chicken filet topped with choice of Kool-Aid flavoured reduction sauce served in a hamburger bun with assorted toppings.

Vendor: Fried Chicken Sandwiches, Food Building

Cookie Sandwiches:

“C” is for Cookie: A hybrid pastry of cookie and croissant that is great on its own, or as part of a fried chicken sandwich.

Tzatziki Cheesecake:

Made from scratch (with love), with New-York style cheesecake is topped with tzatziki buttercream and pita chips. Opa!

Vendor: Greekery Bakeshop, Concession

Deep Fried Birria Taco Bomb:

Famous Birria beef and cheese tacos and now bite-sized; stuffed into a corn tortilla ball and deep-fried golden brown and served with consommé.

Vendor: Deep Fried CO, Food building

Fruity Cereal Chicken Tenders:

Have break and lunch with fruity cereal coated chicken tenders.

Vendor: Lucky Chicken, Food Building

Wasabi Ice Cream:

On the heels of ice cream flavours that have gone viral at the CNE (ketchup and mustard) – a new condiment is bringing the heat. Wasabi-flavoured soft serve ice cream in a charcoal cone topped with orange sugar pearls and roasted seaweed.

Vendor: Cafe-Eh T.O., Food Building

15-inch Diameter Donut:

A supersized donut that measures approximately 15 inches in diameter and more than 2 lbs.

Banh Mi Tacos:

Bright, zesty flavour of the Vietnamese Banh Mi combined with a Latin flair to create Banh Mi tacos offered with a choice of Saigon Fried Chicken or Crispy Fish.

SpICE Cream Chorizo Fries Supreme:

Spicy and Icy – fries tossed in LVT hot oil and seasoning topped with cheddar cheese sauce, chorizo sausage, vanilla ice cream, chipotle ketchup, pico de gallo, and crispy jalapenos.

Vendor: Los Vietnamita Food Truck, Concession

Sweet or Spicy Mochi Funnel Cake:

O-Mochi is coming to the CNE with an EX-clusive flavour that will only be available for 18-days during the fair. The classic funnel cake treat is reimagined with their signature mochi donut in a sweet spicy flavour – that is a mystery in every batch.

Vendor: O-Mochi, Food Building

Karaage Soft-Shell Crab on a Stick:

Crunchy, saucy, whole crab on a stick! Japanese-style soft-shell crab coated with potato starch deep-fried and covered in ketchup, mayonnaise, and hot sauce.

Vendor: Farm to Fryer, Food building

Giant Samosa:

A heavy-weight champion in its own class: Introducing the Giant Samosa measuring 12 inches and stuffed with potatoes and peas.

Vendor: Bombay Spice Street, Food building