Deep-Fried Beer Invented in Texas

[Al_HikesAZ]

God Blessed Texas

Texas State Fair's culinary contenders fry everything from Pop-Tarts to beer

12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, August 26, 2010
By ERIC AASEN / The Dallas Morning News
eaasen@dallasnews.com
If Big Tex looks a little glassy-eyed this fall, blame it on the Fried Beer. Or the Deep Fried Frozen Margarita.



VERNON BRYANT/DMN
Mark Zable figured out how to fry beer by sealing it in dough. He had to persist because early efforts blew up. Booze is generating a buzz for the State Fair of Texas, as fried-alcohol dishes made the list of top new fair foods announced Wednesday.

Eight imaginative contenders are vying for the Sixth Annual Big Tex Choice Awards, with the winners getting plenty of publicity – and long lines of eager fairgoers willing to gobble up the fried goodness.

But have your ID handy for the Fried Beer and Deep Fried Frozen Margarita – you must be 21 or older to partake.

Kiddos, don't fret. Try the Deep Fried S'mores Pop-Tart and wash it down with Fried Lemonade. Chocoholics, the Fried Chocolate will give you your cocoa fix.

Proud of your Texas roots? You might swoon over the Texas Fried Frito Pie or the Texas Fried Caviar. Like your lettuce with grease? Try Fernie's Fried Club Salad.

On Labor Day, judges will name two winners: for best taste and most creative. The creations will make their debut at the fair, which starts Sept. 24.

Fried Beer is a beer-filled pretzel-like dough pocket that's shaped like ravioli. Take a bite and the beer pours out.

But don't cry over spilled suds. Simply use the dough to soak up the rest of the brewski.

"Why drink your beer when you can eat it?" creator Mark Zable said.

The Deep Fried Frozen Margarita includes a funnel cake batter mixed with either tequila or tequila-flavored wine, dusted with margarita mix and served in a salt-rimmed plastic glass.

It tastes just like a margarita, although it won't produce much of a buzz, said Jake Levy, one of the dish's creators. It's based on the margarita recipe served at his family's Desperados restaurants.

"If somebody were to eat a dozen of them," he said, "they might get a little head rush."


Beer blasts

For three years, Zable has been on a mission to concoct Fried Beer. He remembers staring at a bar menu in a restaurant. Calamari. Nachos. Fried cheese.

Bor-ing.

"Someone needs to figure out a way to fry beer," he thought.

Zable started experimenting. But the beer-and-dough concoction kept exploding once it hit the fryer. He kept getting burned.

So he consulted with a food scientist – still, no luck.

Then, earlier this year, he finally found the recipe for success. Now Zable keeps the process shrouded in secrecy and has applied for a Fried Beer patent and trademark.

Food vendors at fairs across the country often copycat the Texas fair's top foods. So Zable is doing whatever he can "so I can't be knocked off."

He has been a Big Tex Choice finalist twice before, but that doesn't cut it. He yearns for the trophy, an Oscar-like award with a Big Tex head.

"I really, really want one of those trophies this year," he said.

Levy did backflips in his restaurant when he heard that his Deep Fried Frozen Margarita had been named a finalist. When he won a Big Tex Choice Award for his Deep Fried Latte in 2007, his family received requests from media outlets worldwide.

"We got a little taste of that, and we definitely want to do it again," he said. "If you're the 'it' food at the fair, you are at the pinnacle."


He's baaaack

Don't forget the fry king.

Abel Gonzales Jr. returns again as a finalist, this time with Fried Chocolate.

He's received Big Tex awards for Texas Fried Cookie Dough, Fried Coke and a Fried Peanut Butter, Jelly and Banana Sandwich.

And don't forget last year's winner, Gonzales' Deep Fried Butter, which generated headlines nationwide.

Oprah Winfrey tasted the fried butter – and liked it – during her visit to the fair, where she taped an episode of her talk show.

This year, Gonzales had brownies on the brain. It became his fried focus.

The brownie is stuffed with a piece of white chocolate, a cherry and pecans. The treat is then dipped into chocolate cake batter and fried.

But even Fried Chocolate might have a hard time toppling Deep Fried Butter, Gonzales said. Then again, he thought there was no way he could top Fried Coke, which won a Big Tex award in 2006.

"You just go and try to do the best you can," Gonzales said. "If you start thinking, 'Ooh, I've got to start thinking of something bigger and better,' you're not going to come up with anything at all."

[Jim]

Wouldn't the heat volatilize the alcohol and render it useless as an intoxicant?

[joebartels]

yep

although it won't produce much of a buzz

I don't think they'll top Deep Fried Butter. Deep Fried Water or Air could be the dieters choice.

[Jeffshadows]

Wouldn't the heat volatilize the alcohol and render it useless as an intoxicant?

I would tend to think so, as well...

On another front, why does it surprise me very little that a Texan is responsible for this??

[Dschur]

Wouldn't the heat volatilize the alcohol and render it useless as an intoxicant?

The answer is no. It’s true that alcohol boils at a much lower temperature than water (173 degrees Fahrenheit compared with 212 degrees Fahrenheit), so in a sauce, for example, the alcohol will begin to evaporate before the water does. But simply heating the alcohol (or any other cooking liquid, for that matter) will not make it all evaporate.
Wine and liquor are often called for in marinades or to deglaze a pan for a sauce. Jim Lapsley, adjunct associate professor in the Department of Viticulture & Enology at the University of California–Davis, says the amount of alcohol left after cooking will depend on three factors: concentration, heat, and time. A recipe using a higher percentage of alcohol heated briefly will retain more alcohol than a recipe using a lower percentage of alcohol heated for a long time. For example, crêpes suzette flambéed with Grand Marnier will retain more alcohol than boeuf bourguignon made with red wine that has been cooked for several hours.
A 2003 study by the USDA’s Nutrient Data Laboratory shows that the amount of alcohol retained in food can range from 5 to 85 percent, depending on the preparation method. For baked or simmered dishes with alcohol mixed in, after 2 1/2 hours of cooking time, 5 percent of the original amount of alcohol is left. But when the alcohol is added to a boiling liquid and then removed from the heat, 85 percent of the alcohol remains.

[Jeffshadows]

Flash frying it will almost certainly vaporize the alcohol very quickly. Ethanolmhas a boiling point of 78.1 degrees. Most deep fryers operate at 300-450 degrees. The other substances in beer like water boil off around 100 degrees. All of it flash boils and the 6% of alcohol in there stands little chance of survival longer than a few seconds since the mixture is boiling well above it's boiling point. Unless you pour about ten gallons in at a time, I doubt much alcohol survives intact...

[PLC92084]

You guys crack me up! Discussing what happens to the alcohol is fascinating but moot, don't you think!? I'm guessing that most of the folks who will be partaking of these gastronomic delights will already be (or on their way to...) blowing a 4.0.

The idea is still cool, you have to admit...

[Jim]

Only in Texas would hot beer be considered a good thing.

[PLC92084]

Only in Texas would hot beer be considered a good thing.

Don't forget the Germans!! I learned to drink room-temp beer from them (notice I didn't say enjoy...)

[Al_HikesAZ]

Be very careful what you say about Texas.
My Mom made sure I was born in Texas so that I would be an anchor-baby and have dual-citizenship - USA and Texas.
So now the Texan in me is starting to wonder if there is an ultralight backpacking deep fryer. I could fire it up on my deer stand and fry up some mozzarella sticks.

[paulhubbard]

Don't forget the Germans!! I learned to drink room-temp beer from them

But when I was there, the "room temperature" must have been around 40-45 degrees. German beer is the best in the world (as long as you're in Germany at the time of consumption!)

[Jim]

I stand by what I wrote, besides, I said hot beer, not room temperature or luke warm. No where else but Texas would hot beer be a good thing. Don't get sane people started on Texas. It's too easy.

You know that old saying about Texas? If you like Texas you won't like Austin and visa versa. I like Austin.

[Al_HikesAZ]

No where else but Texas would hot beer be a good thing.

It ain't for drinkin'. It's for sellin' to Oklahomans.

Don't get sane people started on Texas. It's too easy.

No problem there, ain't no sane people in Texas WAIT!! What????

[cindyl]

I heard this story today on NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =129595919. They interviewed the "chef" who came up with this concoction. Apparently the beer of choice is Guinness, which doesn't taste too bad at room temperature. I think if the frying is done quickly enough, the beer inside wouldn't get too hot, but what do I know...

[te_wa]

the idea is, stouts are made for cold weather. you dont want a stout while mowing the lawn in June. (thats what IPA is for)
so yes, i agree and am aware Germans drink stuff like Martzen in spring, at room temperature, but if you have ever been to Frankfurt in March, its aint Phoenix in June, thats for sure

anyway, the other half of the bumper sticker that got left out was
"Dont mess with Texas...we wouldnt understand your big words"

[PLC92084]

Apparently the beer of choice is Guinness

Aren't Texans prohibited in their Constitution from touching anything but Lone Star? Some thing about treason... :STP:

[Jim]

I thought it was Alamo Beer.