This is one of my favourite media events of the summer – The PNE food tour.

I don’t know what it is about fair fare that’s so enticing – maybe it’s the guilty pleasure, or the fact that you can only indulge on some of these treats once a year. The PNE does such a good job of sourcing and bringing in some of the best and most innovating foods around.

This year:

Chicky’s Chicken Deep Fried Pickle Corn Dog

Is it a corn dog? Is it a hotdog? SaltSpring Concessions is offering this snack this year, and it is one of the must-try items at the PNE. A cored out picked with a hot dog inserted, battered and fried corn dog style. This is quintessential fair food.

Mac and Cheese Stuffed Burger

The owners of Handmade Burgers have been serving up great fair food for over 13 years. New this year is the Mac N Cheese Stuffed Burger – locally sourced meat patty, cheddar cheese and mac n cheese all comes together in a fresh baked brioche bun.

Slumdog Millionaire Mac and Cheese

Since we’re on the subject of mac n cheese, the Slumdog Millionaire Mac and Cheese is the new offering from one of my favourite food trucks, Reel Mac and Cheese. These folks are known for their mac n cheese creations with a Hollywood twist.  The Slumdog is a combination of crispy onions, peas, seven cheeses and a touch of curry.

Chicken Teriyaki Perogy’s

International Perogy’s offers an international take on a traditional fair staple. With everything from a Mexican-style perogy to an Asian inspired dish, you are guaranteed to find a new favourite flavour here. The chicken is battered and deep fried and served with fried onions, teriyaki sauce and seaweed on top of freshly made perogies.

Deep Fried Tequila Shots

My favourite item this year at the PNE.  Steve O’s is offering fried tequila flavoured cake bites topped with icing sugar. In all fairness there’s isn’t any booze on them, but man oh man, they’re delicious.

Deep Fried Coffee

New to the PNE is Ogopogo Concessions and their Deep Fried Coffee. Let’s face it, you can deep fry almost anything.  Their deep-fried coffee treats include flavours such as salted caramel, mocha chip and french vanilla.

Hercules Burger

I was expecting something big from veterans Gourmet Burgers, but “big” doesn’t really give the Hercules Burger justice. This little morsel takes one hour (yes, one hour) to cook, and it consists of a 10 pound beef patty, bacon, cheese, lettuce, pickle and tomato all together in a 2 pound bun. We’re talking about 12 pounds of food. Extreme.

Hunky Bill’s Perogies

Bill Konyk bet a friend $10 he could get a booth at the PNE to sell his homemade Ukrainian style perogies. The year was 1967. He won the bet and the rest is history.

Fast forward to 2016, and Bill still hunky :) – his Perogies are sold year round in Canada and are as much a part of the PNE Fair experience as mini donuts, Superdogs and the Wooden Roller Coaster.

Last but not least, for the second year in a row, the Craft Beer Festival at the PNE is back in a new location and featuring 25 craft breweries – including Dead Frog Brewery, Phillips Brewing, Moody Ales and Parallel 49.

The PNE runs until September 5th.  For more information about this year’s fair at the PNE visit www.pne.ca

Check out Josh’s video recap of our delicious food tour!