Okay, Snackers! What’s Massachusetts’ Favorite Fried Food?
Okay, Berkshire County. I know everybody's all about healthy eating nowadays, but I know that there are plenty of fried food aficionados out there...just like me. C'mon. Fess up. Be honest.
I know that I'm not the only one who just has to have some McDonald's french fries now and again. Or onion rings. And, oh my goodness, have you ever tried deep-fried pizza? Heavenly.
Anyhoo, my question is, if you had to guess, what is the favorite fried food in the Bay State? Could it be fish and chips? Fried chicken? Or perhaps something sweet like funnel cake or apple fritters?
Shane Co., the largest privately owned jeweler in the United States, recently conducted another one of their fantastic studies, this time looking at the most popular fried foods(both savory and sweet) in each state in the country.
I must confess that I was a little surprised by the overall favorite savory fried food in Massachusetts. Maybe because this is New England(where we are rightfully proud of our fresh seafood) I was expecting it to be something like fish and chips, fried clams, or fried shrimp. But no.
The #1 favorite savory fried food in the Commonwealth happens to be...(drum roll, please)...fried ravioli! And you know what else? Massachusetts is the only state to have fried ravioli as its favorite.
As for the favorite sweet fried food, Massachusetts' pick is fried cookie dough. Yummm! And the only other state with the same favorite deep-fried sweet is over on the west coast, Washington.
To come up with their findings, the Shane Co. crew looked at the search volume for 70 types of fried food over the past 12 months to determine the most searched savory and sweet fried foods in each state and nationwide.
Overall, the most popular savory fried food in the country is actually a tie. Both french fries and onion rings were the most searched savory fried food in 5 states. And the most popular sweet fried food in the country overall is deep-fried Oreos taking a whopping 9 states!
Second place in the sweet fried food category overall is another tie with fried ice cream and Long Johns being the most searched in 6 states each. What? You say you're not familiar with Long Johns? Then you need to introduce yourself immediately.
Long Johns are bar-shaped donuts(almost like an eclair except where the dough for eclairs is steam-puffed, the dough for Long Johns is yeast-risen) usually filled with custard or cream and are either glazed or topped with icing...Sorry, lost my mind for a second. There were images of dancing Long Johns in my head.
For more cool stats and facts including the favorite fried foods in our New England neighbors, check out the rest of the study. You may even find some favorites you've never tried(or never even heard of) that you may have to seek out on your own. Visit Shane Co.'s website here.