Sweet, savory, spicy, strange

COEUR d'ALENE - Jessica Esposito carried a package of pastel-pink and blue cotton candy as she and her husband, Anthony, wandered toward the exit of the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo Thursday afternoon.

The Post Falls couple pushed a stroller that carried their 6-week-old daughter Gianna, who was sleepy after a big day.

It was Jessica's goal to snag a bag of the fluffy treat to take home when they left the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. The fair's theme this year is "Summer's Best Tradition," and one tradition that completes the experience for many fairgoers is the adventure in tasty eats.

"We came for the food," Jessica and Anthony both said, laughing.

"I just had the frozen, chocolate-dipped cheesecake," Jessica said. "It was good. I probably should have shared it."

"I had a beer ball sandwich. That was awesome," Anthony said. "They're like a sausage, but they're little balls that are connected by the casing, and they're spicy like a jalapeno. It's like a jalapeno bratwurst, but a bunch of little ones connected together. I got it just because it was called 'beer balls.'"

Trying new, different and/or strange foods is something guests can count on each summer when they visit the fair. Probably the strangest options available can be found at Wayne's Concessions, which offers alligator bites, frog legs, kangaroo burgers and chocolate-covered scorpions, crickets and mealworms.

"When (people) first see it, they kind of cringe. They say, 'Who's going to eat a bug?'" said Jerry Alwes of Lewiston. Alwes has been a lead cook with Wayne's Concessions for 11 years, each August returning to the North Idaho Fair. Wayne's Concessions appears at several regional fairs, where it provides opportunities for attendees to be brave and try something new.

"I had a lady come up this morning. She ordered alligator for her and her son," Alwes said. "They just loved it. She's never had it before."

Alwes said the alligator bites are made of the meat from either the tail or beneath the jaw of the gators, which Wayne's Concessions purchase from farms in Louisiana and Florida. The meat is white with a texture similar to poultry. The beer batter used is a homemade Cajun recipe, served with scratch-made dipping sauces.

"It's fun for them because you can try something totally off-the-wall," said Bonnie McGlothen, who runs the business with her husband, Wayne. Although they give out stickers that read, "I ate the bug!," she admits she hasn't tried the chocolate-covered delicacies herself.

"I haven't eaten any of them, but my grandkids have," she said. "If I had to eat one of them, I would eat the mealworm, because with the crickets, I'm afraid that the legs would get caught in my teeth."

The bugs are dehydrated and the crickets are crispy, but Alwes described the scorpions as "tasting like a Nestle Crunch bar."

This year's fair boasts more than 30 food vendors with a plethora of menu items, ranging from giant smoked turkey legs, teriyaki chicken, deep-fried lasagna and elephant ears to pizza, Indian tacos, burritos and grilled cheese sandwiches. Fried food fans have countless items from which to choose, including sweets like the battered and deep-fried Oreos and "monkey bites" (deep-fried banana cheesecake) at the Fry Shack, which also offers seven kinds of french fries.

For those who like a fully loaded hot dog, they can try a "Kat Dog" at Arctic Kat Mobile Espresso, located at the northwest corner of the southeast park. The "Kat Dog" comes with about 10 toppings.

"Our family got together one night, brought tons of ingredients, started throwing things together, and that's what we came up with," said Rod Brinson of Hayden, who runs Arctic Kat with his wife, Kathleen. "It's kind my wife's signature dog."

Check out the fair vendors online at www.northidahofair.com/fair-foods and be sure to bring cash, a big appetite and your sense of adventure when you visit.