Corn Dogs

So in my new flat, we had gotten to talking about our respective cultures one fine evening.  While have this conversation, it came to light that corn dogs are absent from the British arsenal of culinary dishes.  It is hard to explain the context of corn dogs to one who is not familiar.  Mostly, you can buy corn dogs at sporting events and at fairs and carnivals.  The most challenging of all is to explain what a State Fair is to someone who has no previous knowledge. 

brianorndorf.com

I usually asking the person who I am explaining the fair to imagine a self-contained town of sorts.  This town is 320 acres, over one square kilometer.  The Minnesota State Fair is a time when residents of the state and region come to the fair to be entertained, exhibit their best livestock, show off their abilities in a variety of fields including art and cooking, learn about new products and services, and enjoy many different types of food—often on a stick. It typically runs for twelve days, running from late August into early September with the last day being Labor Day.  The average attendance is just under 1.8 million, and Minnesota has the biggest state fair in terms of daily attendance.
The fair has many permanent buildings on site, and even a few permanent midway rides--such as the Giant Slide, Space Needle, and Gondola.

Lydia, Andy, Me, and Luke

So you have this city, and it is only used in its entirety for 2 weeks out of the year.  To be fair, it is rented out to smaller events such as auto shows and appliance clear outs, but it is never as full as it is in those two weeks.
While at the State Fair, you can be guaranteed to get just about every cuisine imaginable, from fancy Italian to savvy Somalian. But when it comes to foods on a stick or foods that are deep-fried, nothing does it better.  You can get deep-fried candy bars, deep-fried corn, deep-fried Oreos, even deep-fried ice cream!
Then of course there is this corn dog which I had mentioned earlier.  Because no-one had been able to indulge themselves with this creation, I decided I would cook my own corn dogs for them.  I looked online for a recipe, and after picking up a few supplies, I was ready to give it a shot. 

I used chopsticks in the corn dogs, and fried them up to look as similar to the corn dogs from home.  Once I had made 4, I presented them to my flatmates.  It goes without saying that they fell in love with them, and since we had some batter left, we decided to fry some other foods.  Among the creations were tangerines, celery, chocolate, french fries, and bananas.  The fruit and chocolate one turned out very nicely, while the celery wasn't too popular. 
Next on the agenda is to try to make some proper Midwestern Cheese Curds!