The Joys Of Carnival Food

J. Scott Wilson , Staff Writer

POSTED: 5:14 pm CST March 6, 2003

UPDATED: 8:05 am CST March 7, 2003

One of the benefits of living in a warm climate zone is that we can have things like outdoor carnivals in late February and early March. While folks in the northern regions were shoveling out and laying in heating oil last weekend, my wife and I took a comfortable stroll around the Houston Livestock Show And Rodeo carnival and exhibits.

I don't really care for rodeo action. It's just never thrilled me. And I'm not a country music fan, so most of the concerts offered don't attract me one bit. However, the Rodeo midway is one of the largest around, and the sheer concentration of people attracts food vendors from all over the country to hawk their wares to the passing throngs.

We're talking about fair food, friends and neighbors. Don't look for arugula, radicchio, mushroom duxelles or tofu pinwheels here. If it's not deep-fried, flame-broiled or sugar-frosted, it's not much welcome. You won't find nutrition facts labels in evidence, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (otherwise known as the Food Police) run away in horror.

In short, it's a festival of fat, spices, sugar and everything else that makes life worth living. Bring your own Rolaids and leave that calorie-counter book in the glove compartment.

If you've not been to a carnival in a while, there are a few new offerings you might want to know about:

Fried Twinkies: Those of you who've had one of these incredible confections will know what I mean when I say I pestered my wife the day after our trip to return to the midway just to get more of them. The famous cream filling liquefies in the heat of the fryer and leaches into the sponge cake, giving the entire confection a smooth sweetness that's surprisingly refined for such an ordinary-seeming item. The batter seals the cake well, keeping it from becoming a grease-soaked torpedo.

Fried Oreos: Sad to say, but this is one item that could have just as well been kept out of the fryer. Perhaps it was the fault of the vendor, but the cookie, filling and batter had all melted together and become a chocolate-flavored grease bomb. I choked down one of the order of six and gave the rest to the pigeons.

Fried candy bars: Just to make sure I got a good sampling, I tried to fried Snickers and my wife got the fried Three Musketeers. I preferred the Snickers. The peanuts provided an excellent texture contrast. Both were excellent, though. If you want to try them at home, make sure you freeze the bars before breading and battering.

Space Fries: These go by various names around the country. They're basically an entire potato shaved by a spinning blade mechanism in a continuous ribbon directly into hot oil. Sounds simple, but there's something about the way the thousands of ripples and ridges catch the seasoning after frying that makes them highly addictive. It's good "friend food" if you take a date (or, in my case, my best girl) along.

Of course, there are always the old standbys: cotton candy, funnel cakes, corn dogs and the like. Fried pickles are making inroads on the scene, although I was unable to find any this time around. I'd be the best friend of anyone who had a good recipe for making them at home. Any takers?

Cast-Iron Dilemma

I've been getting some mail from readers concerning glass-topped ranges and their incompatibility with cast-iron cookware. Apparently, the manufacturers fear the heavy pots and skillets will damage their high-tech goodies.

For those of you stuck with one of these smoothtopped albatrosses, don't despair. You can still use your cast iron in the oven, where you'll find it a stellar vessel for everything from cornbread to casseroles. I think I'll stick with open burners, thanks.

Pancake Update

A number of you have written in to tell me of your frustrations with an infomercial refugee known as "The Perfect Pancake." This is yet another so-called miracle pan which promises to generate perfect pancakes, omelets, fried eggs, etc.

Now, I'll be honest and say that I've not purchased one of these pans. I've never been pancake-challenged, and I leave the handling of such delicate items as fried eggs to the light touch of my wife, who can flip eggs all day and never break a yolk. However, the complaints I've gotten from readers run the gamut from leaking and heating unevenly to the handicap of only being able to cook one pancake at once.

Now, I can sympathize with the last issue. I can't imagine having to feed a hungry mob one pancake at a time. That sort of thing could get a cook lynched.

Got a comment? Question? Recipe to share? Drop me a line anytime!