CALIFORNIA FRIED
JOURNAL ENTRY
17 August 2002
The California State Fair is starting today and one of the local
newscasts is providing live coverage from the fair grounds on each of their broadcasts.
Tonight I discovered that you can find anything deep fried at
the State Fair. The latest taste treat sounds like something I should stay miles away
from: deep fried Twinkies. Yes, they take those lethal cream-filled cakes, batter them,
deep fry them, and serve with fruit sauce, chocolate and whipped cream.
I wonder how many points that is!
Apparently this was developed by a guy who decided some time ago to
test all sorts of deep friend things, including deep fried watermelon. Apparently the
watermelon was not a big seller, but the Twinkies have been a favorite at the fair for
several years now, they say.
Good thing I never go to the state fair. It sounds entirely too
tempting, disgusting though it may be!
There was a time, not too long ago, when the height of pleasure for
me was seeing the words "deep fried." Can it possibly be bad if it's deep fried?
(Well, I've heard they deep
fry pickles. Maybe not that.)
Apparently there is a very popular cajun recipe which produces deep
fried turkey. Now while the idea of having crispy, greasy turkey skin to snack on is
tempting (or used to be tempting before I became a food purist), can you imagine how much
grease it takes to deep fry a turkey? The turkeys we cook at Christmas barely fit in the
oven as it is. If I had to find a large enough fryer and enough oil to cover a 30 lb
turkey, I could clog all the arteries in a 6 block radius.
I found a web site which claims that Scotland's national dish is
not, after all, haggis, but rather "deep fried pizza." I don't think I even want
to think about that. It suggests that to make it truly scottish, you should follow with a
deep fried Mars Bar for dessert.
I'm trying to imagine how one deep fries chocolate... But I'm sure
someone has perfected the technique and that it's wonderful. In fact, I do remember seeing
deep fried Mars Bars on the menu in either Scotland or Orkney. I was too fat to embarrass
myself by getting a taste. I might try it now--just for the sake of experimentation, you
understand.
(Actually, I just found the recipe--you can find anything on the
Internet) --
Ingredients:
1 Mars Bar (UK) or Milky Way (US)
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup corn flour
A pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda to Yanks)
Milk or beer
Oil for deep frying
Directions:
Chill the chocolate bar by keeping it in the fridge, but don't
freeze it. Mix the flours and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) together. Add
milk (traditional) or beer (which gives a lighter result) until you get a batter with the
consistency of thin cream.
Heat the oil until a small piece of bread will brown in a few
seconds, but don't allow to smoke.
Remove wrapper from chilled chocolate bar. Coat completely in
batter. Carefully lower into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Serve, with ice cream or
french fries, if you're so inclined.
(Of course, if you want to be sophisticated, you can cut the bar
into bite- sized pieces before coating in batter.)
[Weight Watcher points: 2 bazillion!]
I did come across a recipe for the aforementioned deep fried
watermelon, but the link was no good. However, there was enough of a description on google
to make me realize I would not be trying that any time in the foreseeable future (who
would want to?) -- 1 watermelon, about 10 lb,7 tbsp (100 g) cornflour. 11 tbsp (100
g) flour, 2 eggs whites, beaten. ...
No thank you.
Slightly more (or is it less) appealing is deep fried cheese curds.
Sounds like deep frying cottage cheese, doesn't it. How's that for confusing all those
diet molecules? Take a perfectly good, perfectly acceptable low-calorie food and coat it with grease. What's a fat cell to do?
You know, I started this entry trying to write something for the On
Display collaboration, the topic for which this month is "I couldn't resist..."
Somehow I'm not sure if deep fried twinkies comes under the heading of something I
couldn't resist, or something that was just too silly not to write an entry about.
In any event, since it was a boring day and I have to go review
another show tonight, it was something I could discuss without thinking long and hard
about it!
Thank you for nominating my entry, Moving On for a DiaristNet award! |
