Don’t get me wrong.
As a born and bred Southerner, strange cuisine doesn’t bother me (think possum and squirrel). And, like most people, I’m all about enjoying a sweet treat now and then.
Still, I think there’s a fine line out there and, frankly, it appears it has been crossed.
It was a hot weekend in Alabama and we were at a carnival. Looking to cool off, we found a food stand that sold lemonade. Right before we ordered, the lady in front of us turned around with a plate in her hand. The plate was topped with four small beige-covered disks with a sprinkling of powdered sugar on top.
“Deep fried Oreos!” she said excitedly.
I don’t think our reaction met her expectations.
“Gross!” I said before I thought that insulting someone’s food isn’t exactly polite.
The lady, mouth ringed by chocolate crumbs and powdered sugar, just smiled.
“They are good,” she said.
Fried chicken…French fries…fried okra? OK.
Fried cookies? No thanks.
We ordered our lemonade and soon decided to make our way back to the car. On the way, we passed another food stand.
The sign on the front advertised it was selling “Deep Fried Snickers.”
Seriously? When did we decide it was OK to deep fry everything? Does a concoction of chocolate and caramel really need a coating of breading and then a dip in hot oil?
There were people standing in line to buy their own deep fried candy bar. The line snaked around the food stand, proving deep fried candy bars were even more popular than deep fried cookies.
Apparently, this deep frying trend isn’t limited to carnival fare. Intrigued, I did an internet search and found recipes for such delicacies as deep fried Twinkies, deep fried pizza, deep fried peaches, deep fried Pop Tarts, deep fried chocolate chip cookie dough and, perhaps the strangest, deep fried Cadbury Creme Eggs.
What’s next? Deep fried salad? Deep fried yogurt? Deep fried water?
There is apparently nothing we as humans won’t eat.
As such, there is apparently nothing we won’t deep fry.
But as for me, I think I will stick with the non-breaded versions. Why mess up a perfectly good Snickers bar?