Traditional Scottish Food: Deep Fried Mars Bars

(Photo: unknown)

Scotland is a land of refined tastes and thoughtfully-developed food traditions. (My ancestors were Scottish, so I know of what I speak.) Among their inventions are those now famous pillars of haute cuisine: haggis and Scotch eggs.

Yet the Scottish people are not the type to rest on their laurels. Among their more recent inventions is the deep fried Mars Bar. A 2012 article in BBC News describes how this culinary marvel has emerged from the fish and chip shops of Scotland:

Ahmed at Neptune's on Duke Street refuses to fry chocolate bars because "it turns the oil black and oil is very expensive."

But Mustapha from Denis's takeaway on the High Street is happy to oblige. He says he will deep-fry anything.

"That's my job", he says.

That's the spirit!

Mustapha says he sells one or two deep-fried Mars bars a day - more when the students are back at the nearby Strathclyde University residences.

He takes a Mars bar from the shelf, unwraps it, dips it in the same batter he uses for the fish and throws it in the fryer. A couple of minutes later he presents a soggy chocolate bar covered in batter.

The caramel squirts out when it is bitten. It is soft warm and sweet. Sickly sweet and fatty.

-via Ace of Spades HQ