August 7, 2008
Hands Off my Funnel Cake!
I'm totally going to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair on Saturday. It's an excellent fair, with genuinely fun, scary rides, a demolition derby, pig races, the full Ag competition thing ranging from chickens to rabbits to steer, and all the delicious, fattening fair food you could hope for. So I was deeply disturbed to run across the news this morning that the fair is subject to the county's trans fat ban, which passed last year and is now fully in place.
Look, I know that trans fats are terrible for you. In general, I'm glad when cities and other municipalities start creating incentives for restaurant chefs and short order cooks to find alternative oils and cooking methods to help us reduce the risk of heart disease. But should there really be zero exceptions for a trans fat ban? This is a county fair we're talking about here. The idea is you're supposed to overindulge in crazy food you would not normally consume except once a year. By all means, force restaurants that serve people on a regular basis to fry their potatoes in healthier oil. But if I find out this weekend that you've removed the flavor from my funnel cake, or made deep frying Oreo cookies impossible, there will be hell to pay.
The Montgomery County Fair begins this Saturday and runs through Aug. 16.
Photo by melanie.phung
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when funnel cakes are outlawed, only outlaws will have funnel cakes. "viva la revolucion," and "let them eat cake" finally reconciled together.
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Eh I'm for the ban really. I see trans fats in the same light as cigarettes. They may taste good (although I don't see how smoke can be tasty), but it's downright unhealthy for you. Too many parents out there are ignorant to health issues like these and end up fattening up their kids by feeding them this crap.
And yes I'm aware that this could potentially lead to the government restricting our eating habits, but I just think this ban's long overdue.
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... long over due because only the manufacturers have the benefit, once again like those cigarette companies.
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Anyone who says trans-fat-free oil has no impact on flavor has never had fish, potatoes, or turkey deep-fried in pure lard. They used to do that down by the Maine Avenue Fish Market back in the 1950s. Unfortunately, there are few who remember this delicacy because their hearts couldn't stand the rich, delicious flavor.
First they take the freak shows away. Then the rickety about-to-collapse rides. Then the deep-fried Coca Cola. Then the trans fats. By the time they came for my quadruple bypass, IT WAS TOO LATE.
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I've made funnel cake in vegetable oil with no problems. Plus, the county only banned artificial trans fat, so there's still lard and horse fat to fry in (Michel Richard swears by horse fat.. I don't think you can really get it in the US, though).
And actually, according to the press release about the law, frying oils for doughs and batters aren't affected until 2009. So funnel cake is safe for another year...
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I was trying to think of something that hasn't been deep fried at a county fair yet, and the only thing I could come up with was cotton candy. Then it occurred to me: SCOTCH EGGS! Just form the cotton candy into a ball, wrap it in raw breakfast sausage, roll it in ground pork rinds, and fry. You get all the flavor of a breakfast treat, but with a cool creamy cotton candy center.
Now available as part of the charcuterie platter at La Maison Toilettes d'Enfer.
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Actually, non-hydrogenated lard has no trans fat (or at least, very trace amounts that occur naturally). Ditto horse fat.
And trans fats don't taste good, either. They, like shortening, have absolutely no flavor. The only purpose is that they provide the texture benefits of shortening and enable a longer shelf life (think Twinkies).
I'm glad the ban only applies to artificial trans fats... the NYC ban applies to all trans fats, and pastry shops are being forced to use (unnatural) margarine in place of (natural) butter (NASTY), because butter contains a small amount of naturally occuring trans fats. And that's just stupid.
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I thought that margarine by definition has trans fats...
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And trans fats don't taste good, either. They, like shortening, have absolutely no flavor.
Take the Monkeyrotica challenge: bake two apple pies, one with a crust made of vegetable shortening, another with pure lard, and tell me there's no difference in flavor.
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So it's apples you've been baking? I'd imagine an altogether different list of ingredients from a monkeyerotica recipe...
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The NYC law only covers artificial trans fats.
It is the FDA labeling regulation that covers both kinds, and that is why some people, generally driven by Starbucks and others, are switching out butter for "no trans fat" substitutes (where "no" =
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[adds Disco Stu to list]
That American Apparel redhead in the booty shorts? I'd eat her funnel cake with a spoon.
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No! Don't ask monkey what's in those pies! You don't want to know!
Hmmm, according to the fair schedule, there's a "Cut the Cheese" event....what do you suppose that's all about...
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doh!
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Ah crap I forgot your site won't catch lt/gt's..
(where "no" = less than 0.5 g/serving)
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Monkey -- that's my point. Lard does not have trans fats (except for a trace amount), and lard has tons of flavor. Shortening is chock full of trans fats, yet has no flavor.
What I'm trying, very poorly, to say is that eliminating trans fats doesn't mean our favorite fried fair foods will have no flavor. In fact, it will often mean the opposite.
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What I'm trying, very poorly, to say is that eliminating trans fats doesn't mean our favorite fried fair foods will have no flavor.
I'll say that's poor. Is that a triple-negative or what? But I get where you're coming from. Call Eleanor Holmes Norton: have her tell Crisco to pack it with Crisco! Viva la manteca!
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"Eliminating" doesn't not count as a non-negative in that construction, but yeah, it was a double-negative. What can I say, it's been a long week. ;-)
Viva la (nonhydrogenated) manteca, indeed!