Caribbean food, music highlight CNE finale

By Stephen Weir

Hot sauce, jerk chicken, roti, burgers, cotton candy and soca; the CNE is heading into its final days, and for many visitors the biggest attraction isn’t a ride at all. It’s figuring out what to eat next.

The Canadian National Exhibition runs until Monday, September 7, and there is still plenty happening before the gates finally close on another summer.

But ask visitors what they remember most about the Ex and chances are the answer will be food.

Jerk chicken and roti and BBQ corn can be found around the Midway, along with the seemingly endless lineup of barbecue and grilled specialties. Inside the Food Building, the choices range from traditional fair favourites to weird (don’t ask).

This year, the CNE has even entered the hot-sauce business.

Its first-ever signature sauce, CNE Sweet Heat, is a sweet-and-spicy sauce inspired by cotton candy. Made in small batches by Hamilton’s Tijuana Tom’s House of Hot Sauce, it has been finding its way onto everything from fries to chicken and even some of the fair’s more outrageous food creations. A bottle costs $12 plus HST at the CNE Drip Shop in the Music Building.

And then there is Lick’s.

The once-ubiquitous Toronto burger chain is back at the CNE after the last remaining Toronto location closed. At the Lick’s stand in the Food Building, longtime manager Hugh Lewis is once again serving up the burgers and Guk, the legendary sauce that generations of Torontonians remember.

But you don’t have to spend the final days eating.

The CNE’s entertainment lineup continues right through Labour Day weekend, with the Canadian International Air Show providing its annual thunder in the skies and live music continuing at the Bell SOUNDSTAGE at the Bandshell.

Sunday, September 6, should be circled in red.

Dr. Jay’s Soca Night brings Alison Hinds, Edwin Yearwood, Rupee and DJ Puffy to the Bandshell for an evening of soca and Caribbean music. The concert is included with CNE admission.

So there are still plenty of reasons to head down to Exhibition Place before the CNE disappears for another year.