How much room for innovation?

The various summer fairs held across Canada may feature all kinds of themes, but for many, the food element may be rather basic, with hot dog outlets, burger vans and candy floss stalls coming as standard. 

However, the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), which started on Friday (August 17th) in Toronto, is another matter entirely. This event, as the name suggests, may be about lots of different things. However, much of the food gravitates towards the more innovative end of the spectrum. 

Oddities include chocolate-banana steak eclairs, fried frog legs and some very weird ice cream flavours, including pickle, curry coconut - served in a coconut shell, and creme de la corn, which is dished up with a piece of corn on the cob.

There is also deep fried wine and cheese, and deep fried Ferrero Rocher, the last of which may be a step up from the Fried Mars bar that has become a delicacy across the Atlantic in Scotland. 

For a really local touch, there is the "Blue Jay Nest" - a waffle bowl stuffed with all kinds of sweet treats, including a doughnut made to look like a baseball. 

Castanet describes these kinds of novelties as "crazy gastronomic concoctions", but it does pose an interesting question; to what extent should Canadian restaurants seek to innovate with odd flavours, strange combinations and unusual ingredients? 

After all, there will still be plenty of people who will be content with their usual favourite dishes and will be much more impressed by chefs being able to repeatedly produce cuisine of high quality than their capacity to offer something different and quirky every week. 

Part of the answer may lie in not trying to reinvent the wheel, but in taking an existing idea to the next level. Deep fried Ferrero Rocher may seem quite a leap, but the festival website published a timeline of deep fried food history, starting from all the way back in the fifth millennium BC, when the Egyptians made fried cakes.  

After this, it noted, fritters made an appearance in Europe in medieval times, and the Scots (who else?) introduced fried chicken into North America in the 17th century. Indeed, given the historic Caledonian influences on Canadian history and culture, it is no surprise that frying is part of the culinary scene. The CNE itself was where Tony Tom's fried donuts started in 1960, and the 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions have seen the advent of deep fried Oreos, pickles in deep-fried corn dogs and deep fried cheese curds respectively.

A clue that restaurants may take into account is that the CNE has clearly developed its own reputation for dishing up strange food, with the various fried innovations being just one example. That means such novelties are part of the event, in much the same way that eating the same thing every time - such as turkey at thanksgiving - is integral to other events. 

None of that should preclude innovation, but radical ideas may wisely be kept to a minimum, perhaps as a theme for once a year occasions, or as an experiment with something new alongside the regular menu, to see if it catches on. 

By placing the occasional unusual dish or treat on the menu but surrounding it with familiar cuisine, innovation can still attract diners willing to try something different now and again. To have something strange on a regular basis, however, risks losing the very novel aspect that has made it a tradition at the CNE.