"fry bread" news and stories

The newest food stuff to come under scrutiny isn't a member of the fast-food circuit but rather of Native American culture: fry bread. This doughy hole-less puff is best centered under a helping of chili, soaking in juices to be eaten by the finger-pluck-full.

But according to Health magazine's June 29 report, it's among the 50 fattiest foods in the country, reports Argus Leader, a local newspaper of Sioux Falls South Dakota, whose large Native American population named fry bread the state bread in 2005. "The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that one slice of fry bread the size of a large paper plate has about 25 grams of fat," the magazine's report notes. And a recent episode of fitness show "Losing it with Jillian" depicts the bread as "poisonous," the Leader reports.

A few days ago, I did a post about a site that had a humorous cultural history of the dumpling. In a somewhat similar vein, here's an illustrated listing of fried dough from around the world. The site is hosted by OSO-ONO, a California-based wholesaler of fried dessert dough. Basically, they sell frozen bags of an all-purpose dough that they say can be used to make all kinds of donut-like things. I'm a little skeptical that one dough can do it all, but their chart of fried dough from different countries is great. There are dozens of items--from fry bread to beignets to gulab jamun--each with a photo and brief explanation. It seems like it would be a great jumping off point for any donut enthusiast looking for new ideas.