Just look for the robot pig singing country music and you'll find Porky's, the traveling carnival-grub vendor currently in Miami at the Dade County Fair & Expo. The Indiana company's claim to fame is its ice-cream-sundae style concoction of pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and barbecue sauce served in a big see-through cup and called the Pork Parfait.
The gypsy woman at the cash register's story (besides getting picked up in Bullhead City, Arizona 15 years ago) is, "The boss just set there and wondered what he could do, and this is what he came up with. People love it. The first time we did it was in Indiana. The food critic for the newspaper gave it five stars and we got bombarded. We actually ran out of pulled pork that day. And we been doing it all over the country ever since."
It's a smart product for the fair because it's easy to eat while walking. The strong visual works to its advantage as well. Ironically, the food industry often uses mashed potatoes as a photographic substitute for ice cream because it doesn't melt. In this case, form and function work cup and spork for a truly original piece of county fair food history.
Click here for Porky's Facebook page, and visit the fair in person through April 11.
Miami-Dade County Fair
10901 Southwest 24th Street, Miami
305-223-3247
And we definitely have to give an honorable mention to Carousel Foods, also from Indiana, for their Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburger, which uses two whole glazed donuts for the top and bottom bun. Here are a couple of pictures, and more tomorrow....
