Friend Food

I enjoy fried food, but I'm not a rabid fan, which is why I found it so puzzling that during my first weeks here, I managed to eat something fried just about every day. They do boiling grease really well here. A sampling of my new "bring on the heart attack" diet.

KFC popcorn chicken - I'm a sucker for marketing and completely embarrassed to admit that minutes after a commercial for this fine product aired on TV, I paid a visit to the neighborhood KFC. That I was able to drag Mork along made me feel better, because at least that made two of us who succumbed to a really bad commercial. Red Rooster (the local version) is on my list of places to try, but they don't have commercials.

Banana Fritters - I should have been tipped off to the fried component since the menu said "fritter", but apparently I was already comatose from the fried fish and noodle dish I'd already ingested. Happily, a side of vanilla panna cotta and a tablespoonful of caramel enabled me able to pass off the dessert as "oh, but I wanted to try the panna cotta, not fried fruit."

Fish and Chips - By far the best I've had was at the Sydney Fish Market, where they fry-to-order. The batter was ethereal and the seasoned salt on the chips made ketchup obsolete. I suppose this is as good a time as any to send a shout out to the potatoes here. They just taste better. Not so starchy would be my guess. And yes, I did just compliment a potato.

Finally, I don't think it's a coincidence that FRIED is only a letter off from FRIEND. Most times that I attempt to write fried (which is admittedly not often), I end up talking about my "friend chicken" or other such nonsense. Here's to my new friend, fried.