I think in the south they'll deep fry anything. It seems most of these concotions get invented at the State Fairs. First the deep fried twinkie, and now this. Gross.
[QUOTE]They'd like to fry the world a CokeState Fair treat becomes sensation far beyond Texas
12:00 AM CDT on Monday, October 16, 2006
By KATIE MENZER / The Dallas Morning News
I
mitation might be flattery, but Fried Coke is fattening anywhere you eat it.
That's what the nation has found out now that Texas' own cola confectionery has been released to the masses.
Fried Coke, which was introduced by concessionaire Abel Gonzales Jr. to the State Fair of Texas only weeks ago, already has been adopted by the North Carolina State Fair and the Arizona Exposition & State Fair. Both fairs opened Friday.
"
We've been getting calls from everywhere since we introduced it," said Elizabeth Martin, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina fair. "Everyone wants to know where they can get it."
Mr. Gonzales garnered national attention when he won the "most creative" title for his deep-fried Coke batter nuggets topped with cola syrup at the Big Tex Choice Awards Contest on Labor Day.
He appeared with his creation on NBC's Today show and in countless newspaper and television stories nationwide.
And that's how a North Carolina fair concessionaire got the idea, Ms. Martin said.
"He read about it and tinkered around with it to come up with his own recipe," she said.
Mr. Gonzales sold 16,000 cups of Fried Coke in the first two weeks of the fair and is poised to surpass his breakout hit at last year's fair – the Fried Peanut Butter, Jelly and Banana Sandwich. He sold 20,000 of those during the entire 2005 fair.
But while Mr. Gonzales has inspired others to fried greatness nationwide, he's been doing some tinkering of his own at home.
Just days after the State Fair opened Sept. 29, the carbo-crazed concessionaire decided to change his original Fried Coke formula.
He said he wanted to make the dough less cakey and more spongy to soak up the cola syrup. So he reworked the recipe, threw out the pre-made batter and retrained his employees.
Hence, the new Fried Coke. (Not to be confused with the New Coke.)
"They were good before, but they are even better now," Mr. Gonzales said. "I wanted it to be the best product out there."
Fairgoer Carol Boultinghouse tasted the new formula Thursday.
"It's good. It's got a little bit of Coke flavor to it, but it tastes like my mom's homemade doughnuts," the Dallas resident said. "This makes more sense to me than a Fried Twinkie. I don't know why."
But not everyone's effervesced over the flavor.
"This is Texas. Shouldn't it be Fried Dr Pepper?" asked Keller resident Jennifer Laboda.
Fred Tarpley, a retired English professor from Commerce, decided to take the middle ground.
"If you like doughnut holes with a Coke flavor, then you'll like it," he said. "It's something everyshould try once." [/QUOTE]
