I ran into a friend at the Clintonville Farmers’ Market. She was loaded down with a shopping bag full of cotton candy — she must have had ten of them in there. Smart woman, she’d just hit a stand called Maple Mist Farm, and that vendor only visits the market once a month: it’s wise to stock up.
Maple Mist Farm makes maple syrup, like any self-respecting maple purveyor, but it also makes and sells maple cotton candy. Unlike carnival versions, it’s not neon colored in pink and blue. It’s a dirty cotton color — a light taupe. And Maple Mist’s cotton candy isn’t on a stick (possibly a disappointment), it comes in a plastic bag. There are perks to bags, though, tidiness and longevity being the most appreciated ones.
It’s been a long time since any personal cotton candy eating experience. It’s sort of kid-stuff, like Fun Dip and Ring Pops; not big in the grownup world. Then again, taupe cotton candy certainly seems more sophisticated and adult than regular versions.
Given the lack of an appropriate eating utensil (a fork just seems bizarre), the best thing to do seems to be to open the bag and grab a pinch. It’s still finger food. The texture is actually a little surprising. It is cottony, soft with micro threads, just like pulling apart a cotton ball. This probably wouldn’t be such a surprise to someone who had eaten cotton candy in the last ten years, but for the less experienced, the texture is a novel thing. Like any cotton candy, it condenses and sugars and dissolves away in the mouth.
And the flavor? Well, yes: maple-y, and in a natural, non-fake way. It also tastes like caramelized sugar — so that adds a little complexity to its sweetness. It’s fun, it’s Ohio-proud (made in Fredricktown), and made from organic maple. It’s a novelty worth exploring — the vendors said they usually hit the market on the last weekend of each month.