Croissants wilted. Chips staled. Ice cream melted. Cotton candy rained. A disastrously hot forecast never quite materialized for Day 1 of the fair, but the severe humidity was enough to make a challenging day of eating a little more swampy, and to make food a little more texturally fraught. Still, the Taste Team worked its way through a record 100-plus bites of new foods — including the 34 .