Sydney Royal Easter Show food includes Dagwood dogs, burgers, bacon on a stick

It’s time to abandon the diet and embrace carbs with a side of wacky because the Royal Easter Show is serving up its novelty fare in big doses to celebrate its 200th anniversary.

What would the Sydney Royal Easter Show be without a smorgasbord of carnival food, preferably impaled with a stick — including a two-foot Dagwood dog.

Under the metric measurements, that’s just shy of 61cm of batter-dipped hot dog deep fried in hot oil and topped with tomato sauce, waiting for intrepid souls to conquer.

The super-sized Dagwood is a fitting way to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the show for Jade Evans, her husband Josh and her children who are fifth-generation vendors of the event.

The family of Mr Evans, aka “King of the Dagwood dogs” introduced the show food staple to Australia in the early 1930s and this year claims the two-foot offering will be the world’s longest.

“We’re still hand making our Dagwood dogs using the recipe my grandparents brought back from an American fair, along with Australia’s first food trucks,’’ he said.

He says his family even debuted food trucks in Australia, “long before they became as trendy as they have in recent years”.

The Evans’ daughter Ava, 16, will also run her food truck at the show after saving up to buy the trailer where she will run her I Love Churros outlet and dish up the cinnamon sugar Spanish street food staple with toppings including Biscoff and Tim Tams.

The Dagwood dog is for adventurous food types.

Josh Deluca returns with Burger Head and introduces a bacon and Italian food stall to the show. Picture: Monique Harmer

“It’s been a lot of work but is really exciting,’’ she said.

“I’ve grown up with Mum and Dad and my grandparents and other family members working at the major shows, and now it’s my turn to run something.’’

The family affair continues when the Evans’ nine-year-old twin daughters Willow and Faith sell Cupie Dolls on a stick (naturally) from a stall alongside their parents.

They are following in the footsteps of their grandmothers who sold the cupie dolls around Australia when they were young.

While the Dagwood belongs to the classic Aussie festival menu, there’s plenty of international flavours, including Big Tony’s garlic bread on a stick and the mac and cheese dog.

What Big Tony doesn’t do when it comes to Italian options, Skinny Tony has it covered, including meatball breadrolls and gourmet panini.

The creative offerings are the brainchild of Burger Head co-founder Josh Deluca, whose first shop at Penrith in 2017 became a major success.

The burger maestro’s footprint at the show includes three offerings — Burger Head will return for the fifth year along with newcomers Skinny Tony’s and Bacon Head, where carnivores can relish deep-fried bacon on a skewer — a carnivore’s slice of heaven coated in buttermilk, custom spices and flour. Sauces include cheese, sriracha and aioli.

A cheese-drizzled bacon southern fried stick.

“There’s always something new and exciting that comes out every year,’’ Deluca said.

“It’s definitely not the stuff you see on restaurant menus, it’s a little bit gimmicky but it’s fun to be part of the day, you’re coming here, you’re excited, you’re having a good time walking around.

“I guess you want to eat food on the go, that’s where the whole stick thing really leads into it.’’

For those opting for a little more refined lunch, Skinny Tony’s (named after Deluca’s paternal grandfather) makes its debut in The Stables, where showgoers can have a meal while sitting down and wash it down with some amber liquid from the beer hall.

“We’ve got some rustic Italian paninis with mortadella, provolone, rocket, pesto,’’ Deluca said. Then we’ve got some handcrafted meatballs on there.’’

Skinny Tony's mortadella and provolone panini at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Four-cheese arancini — stuffed with mozzarella, provolen, taleggio and parmesan — and loaded fries keeps the hunger at bay.

Burger Head fans will find 85 per cent of the outlets’ menu available at the show.

“We’ve got a pretty big reputation to uphold so the same burger you’re going to get at the show is the same one you’re going to get at the stalls.

“Burger Head’s our baby and it’s pretty cool we that we can serve over 12,000 burgers in a short window of time and it’s just as good, if not better, than at the stall.’’

MORE NEWS

North Parramatta: Nick Henning is The O’Connell St Walking Dress Up Guitar Guy

Wistaria Gardens formally becomes part of Parramatta Park