When Manteca residents Mike Staman and Desiree Snuffer decided to visit the Stanislaus County Fair on Saturday they never imagined they would end up being interviewed on camera for a new national television program, “Carnival Eats,” to premiere on the Food Network.
“It was great, I’m glad we stumbled across this,” said Staman. “We got a free corn dog and now we might be on national television.”
On Saturday and Sunday the crew of “Carnival Eats,” a show similar to "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives”, along with host Noah Cappe visited the fair to highlight some of the unique, mouth-watering food items and to shoot interviews with fair visitors enjoying fair favorites including corn dogs, donut ice cream sandwiches, and even fried frog legs.
Early on Saturday the crew visited Sharky’s Fish Fry and filmed Cappe and Sharky’s manager Sequoia Schoonover making lobster sausage and massive 18-inch corn dogs.
“They wanted to film us because we are one of the only concession stands that makes the lobster sausage inside the stand,” said Schoonover.
An Atwater resident, Schoonover explained the lobster sausage is one of the top sellers at Sharky’s, which travels to fairs and carnivals from Washington to Fresno.
The crew also visited Sweet Cheeks Fair Treats to film the process of making a “Homemade Donut Ice Cream Sandwich” with vendor Mariah Vitoria.
For Fair visitors the highlight of the Food Network was interviews with Cappe, which were often very humorous.
Turlock resident and Earl Elementary educator Caty Nariman was one of the dozens who were interviewed on camera.
“It was fun,” said Nariman. “I got a corn dog and I don’t mind going on camera. It’s a win-win.”
Nariman was given an 18-inch corndog covered with mustard and ketchup. After a brief session of colorful banter with the host, Nariman went in for a massive bite of the corn dog — attempting to bite from the side rather than the tip, which most people did. Unfortunately she got nothing but batter and failed to bite any of the hotdog.
“How did you manage to take such a big bite without getting any hotdog?” joked Cappe.
A portion of the interviews and film segments will air later this summer on Food Network, Great American Country and The Cooking Channel.
