Brian Shenkman was at the Ohio State Fair when he saw a vendor dishing out deep-fried, bacon-wrapped Oreos. Now, he's bringing the deep-fried delicacies to Maryland.
"We tried it and we loved it and thought we'd bring it to the East Coast," he said.
This year marks Shenkman's 21st as a vendor at the Maryland State Fair, where he dishes out deep-fried foods alongside an array of candy from the Bulk Candy Store tent.
His offerings change from year to year, and the bacon-wrapped Oreos are this year's newest addition. The Oreo is first fried alone, then wrapped in bacon and fried again for a sweet-and-salty finish.
"It's like having two scoops of ice cream," Shenkman said. "It doesn't get much better."
Other popular items include deep-fried grilled cheese, deep-fried peanut butter and jelly, deep-fried Buckeyes (made of chocolate and peanut butter) and deep-fried cream cheese — Shenkman's favorite.
Last year he offered fried cream cheese larvettes — yes, bugs — for the first time, and he's bringing them back again this year.
"It's like having a warm bagel with cream cheese and little crunchy things in them, and if you don't realize what it is you'd never know," he said.
Everyone asks Shenkman how many calories are in each of his crispy creations, he said. He reassures customers that if they don't finish the last bite, the calories don't count.
"We save all the calories there for the last bite," he said.
Take a look at some of the deep-fried offerings in the gallery above.