Nothing fancy here but as a child, my friend had "Carnival Dogs" prepared by her English mother. These were hot dogs scored in a spiral and rolled first in catsup and then in cornmeal. They were then either baked or fried. Hot dogs were the subject over a recent bonfire and my friend wonders if anyone has ever had or heard of these. She's not sure if they had an English origin, were created as a "stretcher" during the Great Depression, or were just something her mother concocted. Any thoughts?

PepperGirl
  • 2188 views
  • 6 Comments

6 Comments

luvcookbooks November 5, 2010
sounds delicious, i luv junk food. just bought a cookbook with recipes using junk food exclusively. these remind me of pigs in a blanket, an earlier pickle.
 
Stockout November 3, 2010
A corn dog is a hot dog coated in cornmeal batter and then fried in oil or baked so that the coating becomes hardened and easier to eat. Corn dogs are served on wooden sticks so that they can be eaten at carnivals, at the beach, or even in the car. The corn dog is a highly American culinary invention. It had already appeared in the 1920s but was only popularized in the 1940s. Corn dogs are often not sold in restaurants or even in diners, but rather in portable stands sold by vendors who stand outside all day waiting for customers. However with today's consumer market, corn dogs can also be bought in supermarkets and then either served cold or heated. They can also be eaten with a variety of condiments, including ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise, but this makes the food much messier to eat. For those socially conscious folk, there are now vegetarian corn dogs made meatless but still coated and baked.
 
PepperGirl November 3, 2010
Thanks for the replies. I'm really interested in food history but this is one I had not been able to track down. I appreciate your ideas, Mr. V.
 
pierino November 3, 2010
Yeah, I agree with the others. It sounds like the "carnival" corn dog path is the right one to follow---if in fact you like eating that stuff. State fairs and country bumpkins collide and produce nuclear fission on a stick.
 
Mr_Vittles November 3, 2010
I do not know if they are in fact a British food, but they sound like they could be a concoction from the Depression. Although many people believe corn dogs were in invented in the early 1940s in the Texas State Fair, they were actually invented in the late 1920s, a US patent was made for them. So I do not think they are of British origin. Maybe divergent evolution? Anyways, your friend's mother sounds like an inventive woman.
 
Samantha999 November 3, 2010
They sound like a take on Corn Dogs.
 
Recommended by Food52