Wasabi ice cream, Kool-Aid fried chicken, butter chicken corn dog on CNE menu

Advertisement

Advertise with us

TORONTO - Wasabi ice cream, Kool-Aid fried chicken and deep fried pickle Oreos are among the wilder food concoctions on the CNE menu this year.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/08/2024 (784 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – Wasabi ice cream, Kool-Aid fried chicken and deep fried pickle Oreos are among the wilder food concoctions on the CNE menu this year.

The Canadian National Exhibition has revealed a new batch of gastronomic experiments that include wasabi flavoured soft serve topped with orange sugar pearls and roasted seaweed in a charcoal cone, and New York-style cheesecake topped with tzatziki buttercream and pita chips.

The strongly flavoured wasabi ice cream is made by Caf-Eh T.O., which previously had a sweet and spicy peach mango ice cream at the CNE in 2022.

Crowds make their way through the midway during opening day of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto on Friday, August 19, 2022. The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is returning for another year this Friday and will include an eclectic mix of foods, with a focus on giant-sized portions and unusual sweet and savoury combinations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin
Crowds make their way through the midway during opening day of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto on Friday, August 19, 2022. The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is returning for another year this Friday and will include an eclectic mix of foods, with a focus on giant-sized portions and unusual sweet and savoury combinations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin

“It really gives you that sushi handroll feel,” the vendor’s booth manager Aaron de la Cruz said at a media preview event on Wednesday.

Jumbo-sized offerings at the CNE include a footlong samosa stuffed with potatoes and peas, a 38-centimetre doughnut weighing nearly a kilogram, and a whole deep-fried soft-shell crab on a stick.

Along with midway rides and exhibitions, crazy food offerings are an annual draw for the summer carnival, which kicks off Friday.

“I think you can almost find anything to whet your palate and maybe some things that won’t whet your palate at all,” CNE Association CEO Darrell Brown said, adding that he’s partial to “anything butter chicken.”

A butter chicken corn dog and a deep-fried butter chicken lasagna are on this year’s menu, along with lavender lemonade, ube sesame street corn and chicken tenders covered in fruity cereal.

Wasabi ice cream is pictured on media preview day at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto on Wednesday, August 14, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor
Wasabi ice cream is pictured on media preview day at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto on Wednesday, August 14, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor

The CNE runs to Sept. 2.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2024.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Letters, Oct. 7

6 minute read Preview

Letters, Oct. 7

6 minute read Updated: 8:08 AM CDT

Wally Daudrich apparently claims that Duff Roblin joined the PC Party in the 1960s. He does not know the history of the party.

Read
Updated: 8:08 AM CDT

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

Sidney Crosby sings praises of Jets' Bjorck, summer training partner Barron

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Preview

Sidney Crosby sings praises of Jets' Bjorck, summer training partner Barron

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Monday, Oct. 5, 2026

PITTSBURGH — It wasn’t that long ago when the shoe was on the other foot for Sidney Crosby.

Read
Monday, Oct. 5, 2026

Michael Douglas comes to terms with fears, fame, father

Hillel Italie 6 minute read Preview

Michael Douglas comes to terms with fears, fame, father

Hillel Italie 6 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

NEW YORK — Michael Douglas, the award-winning actor and producer, recently turned 82. He is a cancer survivor, a recovered addict, a married man, the father and son of actors.

He is also an author, who begins his memoir with a message of thanks to his family — past and present and future — for the “sense of immortality.”

“Many times my father was asked, ‘Kirk, are you jealous of your son?’” he said during a recent interview at a Manhattan hotel, referring to his late father, fellow actor and sometime combatant Kirk Douglas.

“And he said, ‘Jealous?’ This is a sense of immortality, a continuity of generations.’”

Read
2:01 AM CDT

Manitoba Federation of Labour calls for independent review of Workers Compensation Board

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Manitoba Federation of Labour calls for independent review of Workers Compensation Board

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Yesterday at 9:54 PM CDT

A major labour association is calling for an independent Workers Compensation Board review as Manitoba leads the country in workplace injury rates.

Last year, 2.5 employees in every 100 reported a workplace injury serious enough to take time off, WCB tracking shows. The number is higher than any other province — just as it has been for the past three years, according to the Manitoba Federation of Labour.

(In 2025, the next highest time loss injury rate was in British Columbia: 2.04 people for every 100.)

“Our prevention work in Manitoba is failing Manitobans,” said Kevin Rebeck, president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour. “We need an independent review to help shine a light on, ‘What is happening on the prevention front of WCB?’”

Read
Yesterday at 9:54 PM CDT

Mayoral candidates Klein, Vogiatzakis continue to snipe over inducement allegations

Chris Kitching and Joyanne Pursaga 7 minute read Preview

Mayoral candidates Klein, Vogiatzakis continue to snipe over inducement allegations

Chris Kitching and Joyanne Pursaga 7 minute read Monday, Oct. 5, 2026

Winnipeg mayoral candidate Mike Vogiatzakis told reporters Monday he will contact the city clerk to report his allegation that rival Kevin Klein offered him a job to drop out of the race.

Vogiatzakis and Klein both doubled down a day after accusing each other of offering the other a position at city hall, if they were victorious in the Oct. 28 election, in exchange for a withdrawal.

“Do I want to get him charged? Not really. I don’t want to destroy anybody’s life,” Vogiatzakis told reporters.

“Kevin’s a good guy. I thought he was a friend of mine, but he’s not. Kevin uses leverage to get ahead, and he tried to use me as leverage.”

Read
Monday, Oct. 5, 2026