Big Tex goes up in flames. (via Twitter/NBCDFW)

On this day, we lost a fried hero. This morning, Big Tex caught on fire at the State Fair of Texas. Twitter lit up with jokes about as quickly as Tex did. I guess we all grieve differently.

See also:
Big Tex Burned Down Today at the State Fair
Alice Laussade's exclusive interview with Big Tex

We'd like to take a moment to say thanks to Big Tex for his 60 years of service. Before you continue reading, please play Boyz II Men's It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday.

("How do Iiiiiiiiiiiiii (snap) say goodbyyyyyyye....")

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Pear and bacon pancakes.

The fried food at the State Fair of Texas gets a ton of attention. And, that's great-- because everyone knows that from fried peaches to fried chocolate-covered-strawberry waffle balls, our fair's fried food is badass. It's rititulous.

See also:
Where to Find the Big Tex Choice Award Food Finalists at the State Fair of Texas

But, today, inside the Creative Arts building, shit got real. I could feel it in the air as soon as I opened the door to the place: Grammas were preparing for battle. Nana, Me Maw, Gram Gram-- they were all there, menacingly holding their casserole dishes and ready to strike down any judge who would have the balls to deem their food, "Meh."

This is the Bacon and Eggs competition at the State Fair of Texas, folks. This, right here, is a grandmotherfucking tradition.

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Isaac Rousso's Cubano is one of the best in Dallas. Get it while you can at the State Fair.

Last year I milled around the State Fair looking for food that wasn't fried. This year I found some of the people responsible for my favorite foods (as well as some other interesting characters) and asked them about the fair through their eyes. First up is Isaac Rousso, who's well known for his participation in the fried food game but should be known for making one of the best Cuban sandwiches in Dallas.

See also:
EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Big Tex

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Big Tex floats to his boots. It's creepy.

Monday was the Big Tex erection at the State Fair of Texas. The erection lasted about three hours, so it's safe to say that this 60-year old Texan is most definitely on Cialis. A ton of photographers were there, taking pictures of the event. I took a moment to ask Big Tex some probing questions about this year's State Fair.

See also:
- Big Tex Burned Down Today at the State Fair
- Where to Find the Big Tex Choice Award Food Finalists at the State Fair of Texas

So, you excited for the State Fair of Texas this year, Big Tex?
Howdy, folks!

Tex, it's just me. I'm not "folks." You can drop the act.
Oh, thank you. Jesus, that's a tough bit to keep up. (lights, then takes a drag of world's giantest joint) You realize it's some dude's job to be my voice and they make him make me say "folks" like a bamillion times a day? So lame. (scratches world's giantest butt)

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Dan Zettwoch

Click to see in awesome hi-res

It's here! Fried Christmas!!! That delicious waft of funnel cake + corny dog + world's biggest Frito pie + horse-ish ladyman stank you'll get when you walk through the turnstiles at the fair is gonna hit you like a Lisa Frank double food rainbow. And you will love it.

See also:
Fried Jambalaya, Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll Win Big at State Fair
The Food of the State Fair of Texas, In Photos

The State Fair of Texas is all the things. It's weird. It's fun. It's expensive. It's got shitty parking. It's got a Midway and tamale balls! It has kids screaming their smiling faces off on rides that move at a breakneck speed of 2 entire miles per hour. And they're even going to have a glow-in-the-dark Chinese lantern light show festival thing?! Plus fried red velvet cupcakes?! Hell. Yes. Texas, you are ridiculously glorious.

There is no shortage of fried food options at the Great State Fair of Texas. So, we've created a fried food map that'll help guide you from fried chocolate-covered strawberry waffle balls to fried picnic on a stick. If you try every food on the list, congratulations, and we're sorry.

Let's start with the fried food items that were finalists in this year's Big Tex Choice Awards. The line for these foods will be longer, so have a friend stand in line while you go seek out the fried Kit Kats:

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Deep Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll won Most Creative (more photos to come)

See also: The Fried Food Finalists Coming to the State Fair of Texas 2012

Last Wednesday, the eight finalists of the Big Tex Choice Awards were announced. Today, they gathered for an epic fried battle. Three judges (1310 The Ticket's Donovan Lewis, Representative Eric Johnson from the Texas House of Representatives who has a degree from Harvard so you know he has to be right, and Andrea Rega, anchor of Noticias 23 Weekend Edition) gathered to judge the crap out of this fried stuff.

We tried every item on the list. The update list of fried foods coming to the fair this year that didn't make the BTCA finals and our recommendations:

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Stephen Masker

Come to me, stack of fried potatoes.

See also: 2012 Big Tex Choice Awards: Did Someone Say Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll?

The 2012 Big Tex Choice Awards, which is a sophisticated way of saying All That Fried Goodness at the State Fair of Texas, were announced yesterday. It included such chest-graspers as Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll, Fried Pork wing and Chocolate Goat Penises. OK, I'm kidding about that last one, but the announcements rekindled our excitement for Fried Christmas™ (Alice Laussade term is trademark pending).

Anyway, in honor, we'd like to present a collection of our favorite fried food photos from the past couple of years of the State Fair of Texas. Stay tuned on Monday: we'll have photos of the 2012 foods.

Also in photos...
The Great Fried Foods of the State Fair
The Fried Food, The Fun at The State Fair of Texas Opening Week

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The chocolate-covered strawberry waffle ball is still my favorite State Fair food. But, that mac 'n cheese sounds damn good.

Sorry, Your Heart. It's time for the State Fair of Texas Big Tex Choice Awards. Finalists were just announced. Here's the list, plus a little about the history of some of this year's competitors.

The eight finalists for the 2012 Big Tex Choice Awards (in no particular fried order):

Deep Fried Jambalaya
This one's from Abel Gonzales (AKA Fried Butter and Fried Coke and Fried Cookie Batter Guy), so it's definitely one to try. Dude has a history of knowing what the heck he's doing at a fryer. His fried jambalaya is shrimp and Cajun sausage coated in lightly seasoned flour and FRIED. FRY IT!! Served with a side of "made in house" spicy ranch sauce.

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Alice Laussade

2011 Bacon and Eggs contest at the State Fair of Texas. Idea: Let's put all that stuff in my face.

Yesterday I had the honor of judging at the 2011 State Fair of Texas Bacon and Eggs contest. Yeah, be so jealous. There were six categories for competition: bacon appetizer, bacon entree, bacon dessert, egg appetizer, egg entree and egg dessert.

I walked into the Creative Arts building just as competitors were handing over their bacony and eggy dishes and tables were filling up with all kinds of goodies. When I was told I would get to judge the bacon appetizer category, I was so hyped I chest-bumped Big Tex and slapped him on his brand new Wrangler-ed ass. Bacon game face: on.

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Original Map Via State Fair Of Texas; With Art By Alexander Flores

Click to embiggen; and to download

If you're going to the State Fair of Texas, it's a given that you have to try the fried bubble gum and fried salsa and definitely obviously the fried buffalo chicken in a flapjack on a stick, plus all the other fried foods that were Big Tex Choice Awards finalists. And extremely conveniently for us all (inconveniently for our hearts), the fair visitor's guide always includes a map that points out where all this year's Big Tex Choice Awards finalists are located. It's the fried food-lover's map to happiness.

But, those eight finalists aren't the only vendors with delicious new fried food offerings this year. So, we made a companion map of eight more fried food spots you absolutely must definitely check out in addition to this year's finalists. Seek out these places while you make your friend wait in the two-hour line for that fried bubble gum.

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