I know, I know. I've knocked down fair food before. But I'll let you in on a secret - there's a part of me, deep within the nether regions of my id, that loves the idea of deep fried fair foods. This is also the same region of my brain that revels in the fantasy of eating turkey drumsticks with my bare hands, while shouting "Off with their heads!" in some sort of bizarre amalgamation of King Henry the VIII and Queen Victoria. My brain - it's both my asset and my curse.

It is this decadent part of my brain that is keeping me at odds against the folks who keep telling me how outrageous this story is...that someone dared come up with a concoction that involves Deep Frying Coca-Cola Syrup. Or, more specifically:

...a batter mix (is) made with Coca-Cola syrup, a drizzle of strawberry syrup, and some strawberries.

Balls of the batter are then deep-fried, ending up like ping-pong ball sized doughnuts which are then served in a cup, topped with Coca-Cola syrup, whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry on the top.

This sounds absolutely, positively decadent! I so want to try one!

I'm sure there are several folks who read this site on a regular basis whose jaw just thumped upon their desk. But I'm curious to the negative responses to this story (which has been making it's way around the food world for about two months now). Is it the fact that the dessert is unhealthy? Is it because it's gratuitous? One could make those claims at number of desserts sold at 4 star restaurants across the country. What makes an dark chocolate sponge cake topped with meringue, spiced almonds with a dusting of cinnamon and cayenne pepper okay, but deep fried batter made with cola syrup and strawberries is looked upon (by some) with disdain?

The title of the above linked article was entitled "Because we don't already have enough fried foods..", giving the impression that this dessert is unnecessary. Blogging Stocks mentions "Fried Coke underscores how far from healthy Coca-Cola is". NPR reports on the dessert under the title "From the Annals of Bad Eating: Deep-Fried Coca-Cola". From all of these stories, it sounds like Deep-Fried Coke is a ticking time bomb upon our health, and a culinary disaster to boot.

Nonsense, I say. Of course it's unhealthy...name me a dessert found at most restaurants that isn't. It's not exponentially worse than the crème brulee or the tiramisu being sold at the upper-scale restaurant down the street.

Personally, I have no idea if it's a good idea, from a taste perspective, because, y'know, I haven't actually tried the dessert. I'll refrain from giving an opinion upon it's taste to when I have eaten Deep-Fried Coke.

Technorati Tags: Deep Fried Coke, Fair Food