WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A bacon wrapped deep fried Dilly Dog, A White Hut Biggie Waffle Burger, and a pulled pork stuffed popover -- they are some of the new culinary offerings fair goers can expect when the Big E opens its gates on September 17.
The six-state fair was forced to cancel in 2020 due to COVID-19, but with some protocols in place, the Big E is back for 2021.
On Tuesday, the Big E management team and a number of concessionaires gathered by the Carriage House on the fairgrounds to showcase the newest food items sure to raise eyebrows and expand waistlines.
Gene Cassidy, the CEO of the Big E for the past nine years said, “our local food concessionaires have had two years to concoct some of the craziest new foods imaginable.”
Cassidy agreed the newest menu items headed to the fair will not disappoint.
Standing beside their latest creation, the “Biggie Waffle Burger” – a double bacon cheeseburger topped with fried onions, a hash brown, and sandwiched between two waffles.
"Definitely don’t come see us if you’re calorie counting," Bryan Graham from the Bean Restaurant Group said. "But that’s not what the Big E is about.”
The Bean Restaurant Group bought out the iconic White Hut in West Springfield about two years ago and will be selling their Waffle Burgers at this year’s fair.
Another local favorite, Hadley-based V-One Vodka was on display promoting all the cocktails that they will be offering at the Big E.
Of note, and bucking tradition, the Big E Bakery is adding a pumpkin cream puff.
E.J. Dean, who owns the Big E Bakery sold over 130 thousand of the wildly popular standard variety cream puffs in 2019, this year he thought a new twist was worth the risk.
“This is a new flavor of the year,” said Dean. “Why not go with a Fall favorite -- pumpkin.”
And in 105th year of the Big E, with the history running deep, and perhaps, the fryers running deeper, there are so many who are excited to return to the fair.
"Bring your friends, bring your family back together at the fair because this is the place where memories are made," Cassidy added.
To find out more about the Big E, click here.
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