We love Latrobe. Friends live there and going to parades after a few bloody marys at their home is a tradition. We will be attending the festival this year!
All this. Also, it tastes good, so many tourists will buy some for themselves, as a vacation treat. I often buy fudge from tourist shops when I’m on vacation. Because I like fudge, and vacations are a time for little indulgences.
I’m perfectly aware that there’s nothing special about THIS fudge. That’s okay.
To be fair, you can find virtually any tourist trap item you want in Leavenworth. I like a store called A Matter of Taste, I love their onion relish. My wife like the Christmas Store, she always finds something new. We will be in the area in 3 weeks, we are attending a travel trailer rally in Cashmere.
Thanks, I had cynical, hilarious friends in middle school who helped me convince innocent bystanders of many falsehoods … like trying to get into an adult movie with one ID, because we were “all beink from teensy weensy wee weeeensy country (ees duchy, really), wherein all boychilds over 21 years take the name Tom Wetzel. And we are so happy to try your stairs. Een old country we have only eeencliiine planes…”
Or how we were all going to quit Junior Curling because it was getting too hard to cheat. (I’m sorry, Barb Barry, you really thought we were monsters).
I just saw bins of the stuff at a pie store in Wisconsin a few days ago. We used to buy it to hand out at Halloween when we lived in Oregon.
I’m not a fan of fudge, but my wife loves the stuff. I much prefer toffee dipped in chocolate and nuts.
I was hoping the festival would be in the park again. I prefer walking in the grass and having trees around for shade.
The real question is why fudge isn’t ubiquitous outside of touristy spots. All of those virtues for it in a touristy location should also apply for ordinary local grocery stores: It’s tasty, it fetches a decent price, it’s cheap and easy to make, it’s shelf-stable, and so on. Why doesn’t my local grocery store have a fudge rack next to the candy bars?
The Sugar Mafia would like to have a word with you.
I was recently in Charleston, South Carolina and was reminded of another type of product with a similar situation: hot sauce.
We’ll be there the following weekend.
One correction to the OP. What’s the deal with touristy spots and bad fudge?
Most fudge places have the marshmallow type, which I don’t like. There are few that have the good stuff. We buy a few pieces to taste, and then go back if the stuff is any good. Peanut butter, chocolate, or a mix, are my favorite flavors. Last tourist spot I went to with good fudge was Jim Thorpe.
And then I left the fudge in my sister-in-law’s fridge. Waaah.
My supermarket has a rack of fudge. Not next to the candy bars, at checkout, but next to the cupcakes in the bakery area. It’s about the same quality as most tourist fudge.
just an anecdote about selling fudge:
I was in a tourist area, but way, way off season and almost everything was closed.
But the fudge shop was open. So of course, I went in.
There are a thousand different flavors of fudge. And like an ice cream parlor, they give you a bit to taste. So I taste-tested ten flavors, and the teenage girl at the counter gave me a larger than bite-size chunk of each. I asked, “does your boss know how much of this you’re giving me for free”?
And she said “yeah, I’m supposed to do it–the more I give away the more people buy”. And you know what?..I bought …a lot.
Being a tourist is bad for your brain.
And in this case, also your waistline and your next blood test.
A couple years ago we made fudge for Christmas presents. An assortment. Regular chocolate but also peanut butter and rocky road and a neopolitan. I think we made gingerbread fudge too, maybe also a mint chocolate.
If I do something touristy, I’ll usually buy a brick. I can usually only eat a small piece once a day, so for me it’s a good sweet treat that I just can’t go overboard with.
I remember a mall in New Orleans with a Fudge store. They cooked it fresh and the entire mall smelled wonderful.
Fudge lasts a long time in the freezer. I enjoy a piece once in awhile.
We’re going to Mackinac Island next week (first time, my wife is a huge Somewhere In Time fan). I already know we will be bringing a good amount of fudge home with us. And I’m okay with that.
Tourists have kids.
Kids like fudge.
Parents are more likely to buy fudge for their kids on vacation.
Partial explanation, Certain grographical places, localties, states, and regions become synonymous, through many cultural conditions and traditions with their local culinary specialties and often, desserts.
For example, I go to my local tamaleria and bakery and they are known for their Conches and other Mexican Patisseriie, but they are also known as a (Mexican) candy store for the kids, and they have a very delectable and special “Almond Joy Cookie” that they make for the sweettoothed, too
Tres Leches.
Streudel, fudge, baklava, caramel and kettle Corn, and even frozen Bananas are famous NWO. Go to your local Dairy Queen for exquisite concoction, every town has one.
I notice in some spots that I frequent, Cheese and Fudge are both wholesome specialties, and homemade on ‘View’. Kind of a show from start to finish to process and pack your cheese and fudge! I used to watch performing fudge makers at Portside in Toledo, song and dance and food… dinner theatre.
Velveeta Fudge is really good.