- Deep-fried Mars Bar
A deep-fried Mars Bar is an ordinary
Mars Bar normally fried in a type of batter commonly used for deep frying fish, sausages, and other battered products, although a coconut batter is also used [ [http://www.bondisurfseafood.com.au/mars/mars_fr.htm Bondi Surf Seafoods: Deep Fried Mars Bars] ] . The Mars Bar is typically chilled before use to prevent it from melting into the frying fat, though a cold Mars Bar can fracture when heated.The dish originated at selected
chip shop s inScotland as a novelty item, but was never a mainstream item. Since variousmass media have reported on the practice since the mid 1990s, in part as an ironic commentary on urban Scotland's notoriously unhealthy diet, [Original source, Scottish Daily Record via:- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4103415.stm "Deep-fried Mars myth is dispelled"] , BBC News online. BBC article dated2004-12-17 , retrieved2006-11-15 .] the popularity of the dish has spread.Popularity
It is said to have been invented in the Haven Chip Bar in
Stonehaven , nearAberdeen on Scotland's North-East coast, in 1995.cite news | last = McColm | first = Euan | date =February 26 ,2000 | title = No Haven for the Deep Fried Mars Bar; Birthplace of the Battered Choccy Treat Closes Down | work =Daily Record ] [French batter Mars bars menu publisher:BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/654750.stm BBC News The first recorded mention of the food was in theDaily Record ,August 24 ,1995 , in an article titled "Mars supper, please".cite journal | last = Morrison | first = David S | coauthors = Petticrew, Mark | year = 2004 | title = Deep and crisp and eaten: Scotland's deep-fried Mars bar | journal =The Lancet | volume = 364 | issue = 9452 | pages = p. 2180 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17589-2 ]Deep-fried Mars Bars were already a gag food item, with the mention being unrelated to their actual preparation or consumption, in
Rod Quantock 's cooking segment parody "How to cook a Mars Bar" on the 1983 Australiansketch comedy series "Australia You're Standing In It ". "Cooking with Mars Bars" was a regular segment on Quantock's earlier 1981 "Ratbags" series, with the segment presented by John Derum in which all the recipes were consumed.In a study published in "
The Lancet " in December 2004, David Morrison (Greater Glasgow NHS Board, UK) and Mark Petticrew (MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit) surveyed around 300 Scottish fish and chip shops: 22% sold deep-fried Mars Bars, while an additional 17% of those surveyed had sold them in the past. Of the shops selling deep-fried Mars bars, three-quarters had only been selling them for the past 3 years. Average sales were 23 bars per week, although 10 outlets sold between 50 and 200 bars a week. The average price per bar was 60 pence, and the younger generation were the main purchasers--three-quarters were sold to children and 15% to adolescents.Deep-fried Mars Bars were featured in a March 2003 Time for Kids article which addressed the popularity and health concern of these treats.
With the decline of the
fad , and the waning of media attention on it, actual frying of Mars Bars has become less common. Fact|date=February 2007 It can however still be found in some fish and chip shops around the country, and inEngland andNorthern Ireland . A number of chip shops catering to tourists (particularly the legions of backpackers who visitEdinburgh 'sRoyal Mile ) still proudly declare they sell deep-fried Mars Bars, along with other treats such asdeep-fried pizza s andkebabs , plushaggis pakora s.The deep-fried Mars Bar is mentioned in
UK quarterly "The Idler s book ' in the article on Glasgow. 'SJ' writes: "They aren't anurban myth : they are available in bothGlasgow andEdinburgh . I ate one on a cold December night. It was quite nice. Then I was sick."The Deep-fried Mars Bar has also travelled far across the seas, and makes an appearance at Sydney's Bondi Surf Seafood fish and chips shop on Bondi Beach's beach-front road, Campbell Parade [ [http://www.bondisurfseafood.com.au/mars/mars_fr.htm Bondi Surf Seafood ] ] . In this version, the Deep Fried Mars Bar is fried in a coconut batter and served with sprinkled powdered sugar soon after removal from the deep-frier. In
Wellington 's Strathmore Park, deep fried Moro bars are available at Acropolis fish and chip shop.Culinary influence
The deep-fried Mars Bar has also given rise to the frying of other confections, for example, Reiver's Fish Bar in
Duns annually advertises an 'Easter Special' of deep-fried Creme Egg, although this is available all year. Deep FriedSnickers have also been reported. Deep Fried Snickers http://candyaddict.com/blog/2005/10/26/deep-fried-snickers/The "deep fried chocolate bar" idea is also fairly popular in
New Zealand , however the most common bar is not Mars, but instead Moro. Deep fried Moro bars are a standard item in most fish and chip shops in towns or cities that have large universities or are popular with touristsWhakatane Fish and Chip Shop Menu featuring Deep Fried Moro Bars http://www.whakatane.info/storya2.100342.html. The most common place to find deep fried Moro bars in New Zealand is the southern town ofDunedin (which itself has a strong Scottish influence, however this is likely unrelated). Deep fried Moro bars have been available in New Zealand fish and chip shops since at least the late 1990s.It is known that the deep-fried Mars Bar was preceded by the
deep-fried pizza . It was common practice inAngus to deep fry frozen pizza from as early as 1980.Fact|date=February 2007ee also
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Deep-fried Twinkie
*Fried ice cream
*Baked Alaska References
External links
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/17/world/main661751.shtml CBS News]
* [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1227_041227_deep_fried_mars_bars.html Deep-Fried Candy Bars: Scotland's Worst Food?] National Geographic News, Dec 28, 2004
* [http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?Display=103 Deep-Fried Mars Bar in a Fish and Chips bar in Edinburgh - step-by-step recipe with many pictures]
* [http://www.bondisurfseafood.com.au/mars/mars_fr.htm Bondi Surf Seafoods: Deep Fried Mars Bars]
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