It all started with the deep-fried butter.

That was the first “real media craze” over new food at the Canadian National Exhibition, according to Michael Knott, who’s been concessions manager at the Ex since 2003.

The artery-clogging butter balls made headlines in 2010 â€” and CNE food has only grown wackier since.

Now, “everybody wants to know, what are we doing in the way of food? What’s going to be the latest craze?” said Knott, who has been working at the CNE since the 1970s.

From churro cheeseburgers to chocolate fried chicken, food at the CNE seems to get more outrageous, epic and extreme each year — with foodies and news outlets lapping it up.

Outrageous edibles are a relatively recent phenomenon at the Ex, Knott said.

Before the last decade or so, the CNE only really served the “staples”: hot ice cream waffles, Tiny Tom doughnuts, and classic fair foods like corndogs and cotton candy.

“I guess people’s attitudes toward food have changed. They want to try these different things,” said Knott, who added that skewered foods like “pizza on a stick” were another early edible sensation.

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