No Oil Shortage at the Fair

When they arrive, the menu stops them in their tracks: deep-fried Twinkies, deep-friend Oreos, deep-fried avocados, deep-fried pickles, deep-fried olives and more.

Boghosian sees himself as not just a fried-food salesman, but as a fried-food innovator. He recently saw possibilities in churros, the already deep-fried sugary treat. He bought one at a nearby stand and took it to his trailer, where he cut it into four pieces. He mixed the pieces in wet pancake batter and dunked them into a frying vat filled with 370-degree soybean oil.

After two minutes, the churros were crisp, golden pillows. Boghosian scooped them onto a wax paper tray and doused them in chocolate syrup, powdered sugar and rainbow sprinkles.

"It's good," Boghosian said after taking a bite. "But I think I've got to stuff some nuts in there. I'm thinking walnuts. And cheese. Yeah, a sweet, Greek cheese. I bet that would be phenomenal."

At 37, Boghosian has become one of the nation's most esteemed and creative practitioners of extreme fair food.

In a world of the South Beach Diet, counting carbs and "bad cholesterol," he's part of a wave of vendors who have helped breathe new life into state and county fairs with their artery-clogging culinary oddities.

At the State Fair of Texas -- known for introducing the first corn dog in 1942 -- a vendor who won the best taste category last year for his deep-fried peanut butter, jelly and banana sandwiches has stolen headlines again this year for inventing deep-fried Coke.

Other items making the rounds include deep-fried macaroni and cheese, deep-fried spaghetti and deep-fried cosmopolitans -- a pastry filled with cheesecake and topped with cranberry glaze and a lime wedge. And served on a stick.

But even rival fair food investors admit that no one takes it as seriously as Boghosian, who they say seems to have frying oil in his veins.

"Charlie would fry his watch if he knew people would pay to eat it," said Rich Brander, a fellow L.A. County Fair vendor who gained notoriety four summers ago for serving deep-fried Snickers bars.

When not behind his fryer, Boghosian has been busy the last few weeks giving interviews for radio and TV shows.