What in the world are watermelon fries?

FAIR HILL — Watermelon fries are like regular fries — in name and shape only.

Contrary to what they are called, watermelon fries are not fried (nor baked, broiled, roasted, seared, grilled or cooked in any fashion whatsoever). They are cool to the touch.

Watermelon fries look like fries because of their finger-like shape and because those strips are served in a little, cardboard basket.

Those strips, however, are made out of watermelon — not potatoes — and they are dipped into a small container of strawberry yogurt — not ketchup — before every bit. And it’s probably not a good idea to shake salt onto watermelon fries (Editor’s note: We acknowledge, of course, that there is no accounting for personal preference.)

It’s also important to note that watermelon fries are pinkish-red in color — not golden, tannish-yellow in hue.

With all of that said, the watermelon-fries menu item is an example of some of the interesting food choices offered at the Cecil County Fair, which started on Friday (July 19) and runs through Sunday.

Watermelon fries is the brainchild of Dan McGrath, who owns and operates the Real Deal food truck. Watermelon fries are sold during the fair at a Real Deal vending tent that is beside the Real Deal food truck.

“It’s usually hot at the fair, so he was looking for something refreshing and different and came up with watermelon fries. This is the first year,” outlined North East-area resident Alicia Sipe who, along with her husband, Dan, operated the watermelon fries tent on Wednesday night. “It’s also a healthier alternative to other foods.”

Watermelon fries sales have been OK, according to Sipe, who referred to fairgoers in general and opined, “They don’t understand what they are.”

Granted, watermelon fries certainly are a tad unusual when compared to the standard fair food, such as thin-crust carnival pizza slices, Italian sausage brimming with fried onions and green peppers on a sub roll, hotdogs, hamburgers, cheesesteaks, funnel cake and ice cream.

But watermelon fries, as it turns out, isn’t the only food that causes double-takes and even some grinding halts to make inquiries when attendees see the item listed on a vending tent or food truck menu while walking on the fairgrounds.

“Yeah, there’s some weird stuff out there,” chuckled Cyn Marie Schafer, whose Cyn Marie Concessions is next to the Real Deal watermelon fries tent.

Not too far out there, either, geographically speaking.

“We have deep-fried pickles,” Schafer said. “We make ours with fresh batter and we put a little hot sauce in that batter. We use pickle spears to make ours. We coat the pickle spears in the batter and then deep fry them. Each serving comes with ranch dressing, so you can dip the fried pickle spear in the dressing.”

She acknowledged that fried pickles are nothing new under the sun, before explaining that Cyn Marie Concessions puts its own spin on the culinary creation. “The fried pickles you get at restaurants are breaded, round pickle chips that are frozen. We make our own fresh batter and the hot sauce in it makes them just a little bit spicy, but not overly.”

Looking for something different, Schafer came up with the recipe a few years ago. Schafer admitted that she had some reservations while attempting to create a dish that would appeal to other palates, not necessarily her own.’’

“I honestly thought it would be gross,” said Schafer, who was pleasantly surprised with the result.

There has been some trial-and-error along the way, according to Schafer, who commented, “The first couple of years, we tried putting Hershey’s chocolate syrup on the fried pickles.” That sweet option did not attract many followers, though. But that’s OK because Cyn Marie Concessions’ version of the deep-fried Oreo cookie is quite popular. A deep-fried Oreo cookie was a cutting-edge specialty years ago, but now is pretty common.

(Schafer owns and operates Cyn Marie Concessions with her husband, Wayne, who also has owned and operated a Pennsylvania-based barbecue catering company called Big Fat Daddy’s since 1982.)

Then there are the hugely-popular loaded baked potatoes sold at the Gifford’s Farm stand, which can be found simply by looking for the longest line of customers on the fairgrounds. (Service is swift, and the lines move very fast.)

Sure, loaded baked potatoes can be found at many places in and outside Maryland, even at some fast food restaurants. But they likely pale in comparison to the overstuffed versions made by the Gifford family and their helpers.

The baked potatoes used to make the dish are roughly the size of Idaho. (Editor’s note: Slight exaggeration there.)

The names of the varieties of stuffed baked potatoes include Maryland Loaded and Piggy Potato. For those with an appetite surpassing the satiation that would be provided by the colossal Piggy Potato, there is the Double Piggy Potato. It features melted butter, cheese, pork BBQ, bacon, Old-Bay corn, sour cream and chives. It weighs about 50 pounds. (Editor’s note: Another slight exaggeration.)

“We’ve already had one this week, and we’re back again,” said Elkton resident Christy Kluh on Wednesday night as she and her husband, Tom, waited in line at the Gifford’s Farm loaded potato stand.

There were at least 25 people ahead of them in line, but Tom and Christy were not discouraged as they kept their eyes on the prize.

“It moves pretty fast, and it’s worth it,” Kluh said, breaking into a smile.

Kelly Gifford, one of the family members working steadily to serve the crowd, told the Cecil Whig that the stand would go through 120 cases of spuds during the week-long Cecil County Fair, which translates to approximately 5,000 big potatoes. (Sweet potato versions of the loaded potato also are offered.)

Providing more information to show the briskness of the loaded potato business during the fair, Kelly’s sister, Kacey Gifford, reported that the stand was expected to use 600 pounds of sour cream.

Gifford’s Farm & Feed on Joseph Biggs Highway (Route 274) near Rising Sun typically sells the loaded baked potatoes for a limited time in the fall, when the farm’s beautiful sunflower fields are in bloom, and once again during the annual week-long Cecil County Fair.

Unlike the Kruhs, North East-area resident Mark Bowers ate his first Gifford’s Farm loaded baked potato on Wednesday night, after wondering what all the buzz was about.

“I heard about this and had to try it,” Bowers said, some four or five hearty forkfuls into his Maryland Loaded. “It’s good.”

Brian Williams described eating a Gifford’s Farm loaded potato as a “Cecil County Fair rite of passage” and noted that the loaded baked potato’s good reputation precedes it.

“I break food down into two categories: Convenience and destination. The Gifford’s Farm loaded baked potato is definitely one of those destination foods for the fair or for anywhere. People will travel specifically to get one,” Williams opined.

That is a pretty big compliment, too, because Williams is quite knowledgeable about preparing delicious food that makes customers come back for more. Williams and his wife, Natalie, own and operate the popular CRAVE Eatery in Elkton and the equally-popular CRAVE food truck, which is stationed on the fairgrounds this week, selling its style of smash burgers, tacos and other dishes.

Beneath a canopy beside that food truck, CRAVE also is selling fresh limeades prepared in an interesting way. Instead of putting the limes in a conventional blender, which typically is powered by electricity and uses metal agitators to break down the limes, Natalie Williams and other servers place the limes into a pneumatic blender, which uses compressed air to do the job.

Generally speaking, a conventional blender pulverizes whatever is put into it — limes, in this case — while a pneumatic blender gently presses the limes.

“It (the pneumatic blender) presses the lime but doesn’t break it down. Breaking it down causes oil and flavor to escape. Pressing the lime keeps the oil and flavor,” Natalie explained, noting that mashing the limes results in a bolder lime flavor after the juice and pressed limes are mixed with other ingredients, including ice and water, to create the limeade.

Now back to those watermelon fries or, more specifically, the guy who came up with the idea to make them.

Dan McGrath created watermelon fries so he Real Deal business would have a cool, healthier item on the menu. But make no mistake, the Real Deal food truck sells Italian sausage smothered in fried onions and green peppers and similar foods more in line with typical fair fare.

Real Deal also sells a pretty interesting dish called The Mac Attack, which is listed on the menu as a “fair special.” It features the Real Deal potato stacker topped with nacho cheese, macaroni and cheese, pulled pork and barbecue sauce and, by all accounts, it is quite delicious and super filling.

The Mac Attack is hot and gigantic and, compared to watermelon fries, it clearly falls on the other end of the food spectrum.