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State Fare By Sarah Baird

draft, and we all went out to California for it. That’s where my father discovered chicken and waffles. When we got back, he was awarded an additional booth at the fair, and we started expanding the menu. Once we started adding items, we recognized the response from customers — people were very excited. When they started doing the Big Tex Choice Awards in 2005, we didn’t really get involved at first, but around 2010, we started to take interest in entering items into the contest. From there, I guess you could say it’s been trial and error. We’ve put something in every year. It’s mainly been my older sister and me because my father was fine with the classic menu that he had, but the kids have always been innovating and thinking of different ideas we could do to win the contest. SB: Before gumbo balls, what were some of the other foods you entered in the contest? GP: We entered a fried red velvet cupcake. We did a deep-fried chicken and waffle on a stick. We did a deep-fried shrimp-and-grits ball, and then we did a deep-fried spaghetti and meatball. From there, we did fried chicken nachos…and that’s a funny story. We had a banner that posted all of the food that we sold, and it read: beer, wine, margaritas, fried chicken, nachos . People would come up and be like, “I’d like to order the fried chicken nachos.” After numerous years of telling people, “We don’t do fried chicken nachos,” I was like, “Hey, Dad, why don’t we try to add that to the menu?” So, we added it, and we put it in the contest. It got a very, very good response. In the years after that, we ventured off a little because we’re also confectioners: We do gourmet popcorn and candies. We did a bacon brittle that was popular, but with all of those entries, the closest we got to winning was the semi-finals. We finally made it to the finals when we did wine and-cheese popcorn, specifically a red wine — Pinot Noir — and cheese popcorn. Then we came back and were like, “Well, we did the deep-friend spaghetti and meatball; let’s do a deep-fried chicken Alfredo ball.” That made it to the finals and was very successful. But right after we did the Alfredo ball — that’s what we called it — the pandemic hit, so we had to take a break. Last year in 2021, we did

TEAM ROUX

Few people can lay claim to the notion that they were raised by Big Tex — the 55-foot-tall, Lone Star State-loving, barrel-chested animatronic cowboy mascot who welcomes visitors to the State Fair of Texas each year with a mighty “Howdy, folks!” — but Greg Parish of Gourmet Royale sure can. “T here’s a joke among the fair food families that we were raised by Big Tex because we spent so much time on the fairgrounds as kids,” Parish laughs. A second-generation fair food concession aire, Parish and his tight-knit family have developed a roster of jaw-droppingly quirky, mouthwatering foods over the years that are ideal for munching while in motion between livestock shows, barrel racing and rides on the Tilt-A-Whirl. These always playful, often fried creations sometimes bring a few quizzical head scratches when customers first hear about them. Deep fried chicken and waffles on a stick?! But one bite, and it’s obvious that behind each idiosyncratic dish is a chef with the one-of-a-kind fair food mastery necessary to meet such a specific culinary niche. Parish’s commitment to risk-taking and playfulness paid off last year when Gourmet Royale’s deep-fried seafood gumbo balls (yes, really) took home not one, but two, top prizes in the State Fair’s ultimate culinary showdown: the Big Tex Choice Awards. The Big Tex Choice Awards — or simply “the contest,” as Parish calls it — challenges State Fair concessionaires to put forth their most finger-licking, wild-hair fair food ideas in a head-to-head competi tion judged by a panel of celebrity Texans. The gumbo balls not only took home the trophy for Best Dish (Savory) last year, but also walked away with bragging rights for being named Most Creative. It was only the second time in the contest’s 17-year history for a single dish to win more than one award. But what exactly is a gumbo ball, and what makes them so remarkable? In our

(Left to right) Greg Parish, Whitney Cheatham, Michael Cheatham

conversation below, Parish gives a heartfelt reflection not only on the roux-rich magic behind the gumbo ball itself, but why the dish’s success is so sentimental for his family and their State Fair of Texas legacy.

Sarah Baird: How did you get started in the State Fair of Texas culinary world?

Greg Parish: I’m a second-generation concessionaire: My father, Robert, Jr., founded the business back in 1985 and we’ve been at the fair since that time. Growing up at the fair…it was very unique. I literally grew up out there working, being on the grounds, and soaking up every thing along with all the different families that are part of the fair, as well. I would wander off and just get lost exploring and enjoying the people, the sights, the sounds, the smells — it’s an exciting experi ence. It also made for a good situation among my peers, because I was able to bring friends to the fair, and we could all wander around and have a good time. SB: What were some of the specialty foods that your dad made when your family first started out? GP: Oh man, it was so simple. We started out with popcorn and nachos and beer. It was very humble beginnings.

SB: And how did that grow into something as creative and unique

as your prize-winning deep fried seafood gumbo balls?

GP: Pretty much up through the first part of the 1990s, we kept it really simple. But in 1996, my cousin went No. 1 in the [NFL]

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