Last Saturday was National Corndog Day…and I missed it! What the heck was I doing last Saturday that was so important it kept me from celebrating a day consecrated to such a perfect expression of Haute Junque cuisine?

Not only that, National Corndog Day was also an excuse to eat Tater Tots, drink beer, and watch college basketball! Arrgh! What gives? Was I abducted by aliens?

(Oh yeah, I was down with the flu – the dreaded stomach variety – and Moaning Piteously was my tertiary activity on Saturday. Don’t even ask about the first two. Food was, as I recall, kind of an abstract concept; even though I love corn dogs, I suspect the very sight of one might have killed me coffin dead.)

Having spent most of my life somewhere north of the South, I’m a relative newcomer to the Corndog Admiration Society (Is there one? If not there should be.)

That’s because New York, despite being famously broad-minded about the foods of its multi-cultural populace, has yet to embrace this quintessentially American snack. Who knows why? Maybe it’s because corndogs are just too…I don’t know – unhealthy, maybe?

But that can’t be right. More than half of New York ’street food’ is composed of mysterious, artery-clogging materials that would be better used filling potholes. No, now that I think about it, it might be because corndogs are just too unashamedly fun. And if there’s one thing New Yorkers are suspicious of, it’s fun.

Think about it. Corndogs aren’t sophisticated, they have absolutely no sense of culinary restraint (mystery meat + batter + sugar + deep-fried), and they’re not sold from grimy pushcarts  on urban street corners but, conversely, at happy events like carnivals and state fairs, where they’re eaten by happy people who have, dare I say it, fun.

I can attest to this, because late last year I went to the Coastal Carolina Fair, ate freshly made and absurdly delicious foot-long corn dogs, and had, you know, fun – which is not an easy thing for me; it’s taken a surprising amount of effort to recover from S.U.C.S (Sullen Urban Cynic Syndrome.)

I also ate (or had bites of): a deep-fried Twinkie on a stick (surprisingly ambrosial!), a deep-fried Milky Way on a stick (gooey decadence); Greek-style grilled chicken on a stick (garlicky goodness), etc, etc. Ah, yes, that was a good day!

So, even though I missed National Corndog Day, it did remind me of happy memories of the Coastal Carolina Fair. It’s also made me realize something else: considering all the tasty goodies in the category (kebabs, shrimp skewers, yakitori, fondue, candy apples, popsicles), ‘food-on-sticks’ might just be one of my favorite food groups.

What about you? Do you have any favorite food on sticks memories?

Please join us tomorrow to read our newest Fish For Friday Recipe of the Week: Bakaliaros Skordalia (Breaded Cod With Potato Garlic Aioli).

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