Stephen Ford is looking forward to a little downtime during the PNE, even though it’s one of his busiest moneymakers of his season.
Heck, anything is less stressful than the week he just went through that started with one of his drivers rolling his concession trailer en route back to B.C. from the Saskatoon Exhibition and ended with his wife giving birth to their son.
Coquitlam’s Stephen Ford is culinary mad scientist behind KitKat fries, fingers of the famous candy bar dipped in batter and then deep-fried in canola oil. His concession stand, Steve-O’s Deep Fried Sweets and Treats, is located near the Agrodome during the Pacific National Exhibition that runs until Sept. 3. Photograph By PNE PHOTO
So you can forgive Ford if he dipped into the thousand or so Kit Kat candy bars he’s stockpiled from various Wal-Marts for his run at the PNE, which started last Saturday and runs until Labour Day. That means there’s a few less of the chocolate covered wafer fingers he’ll be slathering with secret batter and dipping into the deep fryer.
Ford, a Centennial secondary grad who grew up in Coquitlam’s Dawes Hill neighbourhood, is the proprietor of Steve-O’s Deep Fried Sweets and Treats. For the past four years he’s made his living conjuring an odd assortment of unexpected food combinations and selling them to hungry, curious customers at annual festivals, fairs and exhibitions like the Calgary Stampede, the Cloverdale Rodeo and the PNE.
Last year the waffle taco was his signature indulgence. Two years ago it was the Oreo churro. But, he said, this year’s KitKat fries may be his best concoction yet, worthy of a place ahead of some of his other deep fried classics like Tequila shots (alcohol-free), cookie dough and ice cream.
“Even though it’s deep-fried, it’s still got that crunch in the middle,” said Ford. “They get that chocolaty sensation.”
Ford said the need to be creative in his offerings is relentless as he tries to stand out among zany snacks such as cricket caramel apples, charcoal-infused soft serve ice cream, and one-pound meatballs. The idea to deep fry Kit Kat bars — one of the most popular candy bars that’s sold in 13 different countries around the world — came after exhaustive product research over the winter that was comprised of dipping all kinds of foods like popcorn, gummy bears and even his waffle tacos into the deep fryer.
“The popcorn was terrible,” Ford said. “The gummy bears, they were okay.”
Once he had his product picked and recipe perfected, Ford said he had to come up with a catchy name that would be easy for fairgoers to notice and remember. That was obvious once he broke the bars into their individual fingers and pulled them from the fryer; they looked just like large, plump french fries.
Ford said he got into the concession business after selling clothes and sunglasses at flea markets. He migrated to food because “that’s where the money was.”
While Ford spends most of the season on the road, he said returning to the PNE every August is special.
“It’s the hometown fair,” Ford said. “It’s nice to bump into your buddies.”
