Few things inspire awe at the state fair quite like the small mountain of curly fries sold at Wild Bill's. One serving is hearty enough to feed six, and it almost overwhelms the quivering stack of paper plates it's served on. As impressive as the towering mound of fried potatoes is, what's even more amazing is the tool that's used to make them:
Yes, that's right. A power drill.
It turns out that gadget is good for more than putting together bookshelves and peeling apples at warp speed.
The typical vegetable spiralizer comes with a hand crank, but when you're plowing through roughly 10,000 pounds of potatoes per fair, you need something a little more high-powered than elbow grease. That's why Wild Bill's owners Michael and Vicki Lis hooked a Dewalt drill up to theirs, turning peeled potatoes into yardstick-long ribbons of fries in seconds.
From there, the potatoes are fried until golden and salted, then served one of three ways: naked, or slathered with a combination of melted cheddar cheese and bacon, or chili and cheese.
Since this is the fair, after all, and you don't go to the fair to diet, the best-selling combinations are fully loaded with either chili and cheese or bacon and cheese.
The family-run business has been around for 26 years, bringing their curly fries, hot dogs and corn dogs to eight fairs nationwide. Starting with the State Fair Meadowlands in June, the team travels almost nonstop until late fall, living out of a camper next to the fairgrounds. "We'll be rolling up to our driveway in Florida on Nov. 2nd, and then we have off until the winter season starts in February," Vicki Lis says.
You can find out if Wild Bill's is headed to a fair near you by visiting the company's website.
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