National Corn Fritter Day
The ultimate savory-sweet comfort food, try making your own corn fritters at home, or head out to a restaurant to indulge in this Southern delicacy.
Where would we be without corn fritters? This simple, unassuming dish is comfort food heaven. Add your favorite condiment to a corn fritter and that’s some good eating right there.
So, some bright spark had the great idea to create a very special day of celebration for this humble food favorite, and very creatively called it National Corn Fritter Day. Who are we to argue with such a great idea? The more people that eat corn fritters and recognize them for the culinary treat they are, the better!
National Corn Fritter Day is a celebration of comfort food and simple cooking. With some corn, egg, flour, milk, and melted butter, anyone can throw together a batch of these side dish favorites. With some creativity, you can add your own favorite ingredients to spice them up or create your very own fritter monstrosity. Sardines and chocolate chips, anyone?
Learn about National Corn Fritter Day
National Corn Fritter Day has been created to encourage you to fry up a batch of these tasty and crispy bites of batter and corn. To really make the most of this date, we definitely recommend using fresh corn. It really does make a difference! These crispy morsels of foodness always make great additions to backyard gatherings and barbecues.
The main ingredients are corn, as well as butter, milk, egg, and meal. While they have originated in the South, their popularity has certainly spread to many places across the United States and, indeed, the rest of the world. You can also give your corn fritters a bit of seasonal and regional flair by changing it up with herbs, onions, or peppers. The choice is yours!
History of National Corn Fritter Day
In order to understand the history of National Corn Fritter Day, you really need to understand the history of corn fritters. This snack is savory and sweet, and it has its origins in Native American cuisine. However, not only are these treats popular in the South of the United States, but they are also known in Indonesia as well, where they are referred to as bakwan jagung or perkedel jagung. The ingredients do differ, though, as we will explain.
Native Americans have been using maize, which is ground corn, as food for thousands of years – long before explorers from Europe came to the New world. In Pre-Columbian Americas, corn-based products were considered staple foods. This includes the likes of cornbread, arepa, and corn flatbread. Deep drying techniques were not used by Native Americans at this time, though, as ample supplies of cooking oil were needed, as well as equipment that was able to handle oil being cooked at extremely high temperatures.
When European settlers came to America, they started to learn about different processes and recipes for corn dishes. They then started to make their own variations of cornmeal-based dishes, including European breads. The corn fritter was invented in the South of the United states. This is a cuisine that is known for having a lot of deep fried foods. Of course, the most famous being Southern fried chicken!
In South America, traditional corn fritters will use melted butter, milk, flour, egg, and corn kernels. They can be baked, shallow fried, and deep fried. They can also be served with cream, honey, fruit, or jam. Some people also make them with creamed corn, after which they are baked and served with maple syrup.
But what about the Asian version of this popular treat? On the other side of the world, it was in the late 16th century that maize seeds made their way into Southeast Asia from America. This happened through Portuguese and Spanish traders.
In Indonesia, with the tropical climate, the plant thrived. Soon, it was a staple food for the southeastern and central parts of Indonesia, which did not get a lot of rain. This is because wet rice requires much more water than corn did. Palm oil and coconut oil have been essential elements of the cuisine in Indonesia for centuries.
Therefore, palm oil was used to deep fry the corn and other ingredients. This technique was taken from Portuguese colonists. This resulted in Indonesia creating their own version of the corn fritter, which is known as bakwan jagung ro perkedel jagung.
In Indonesia, corn fritters are not sweet. Instead, they are savoury. Their texture is more granulated. This is because the corn kennels are not blended into the dough and they are not finely ground either, which means their kernel shape is retained.
The fritter is made from fresh corn kernels, which are combined with salt and pepper, as well as garlic, shallots, eggs, scallion, celery, and rich flour. They are then deep-fried using coconut oil. They are served as an appetizer, as well as regularly being enjoyed as a snack.
How to celebrate National Corn Fritter Day
Of course, the best way to celebrate National Corn Fritter Day is to enjoy this delicious treat. If you have never made corn fritters before, don’t worry. All you need to do is a quick search online and you will see that there are many different recipes to help you get started. You will also find that people have made their own variation of the traditional corn fritter, and so you can get experimental and try out different flavors and versions if you wish. The choice is yours!
As mentioned earlier, you will often find that these tasty treats are served at barbecues and backyard parties, so why not host your own? This is a perfect excuse for you to get all of your friends and loved-ones together and to have an occasion to remember. You will be able to get all of your friends to bring a dish, or you can take care of all of the food. It is up to you. You could even host a party that is inspired by other Southern flavors? The options are endless. However, as long as you have good company and good food, you are bound to have a great time, right?
If you have never tried the Indonesian version of corn fritters before, why not give this recipe a try for something different? Again, all you need to do is a quick search online and you will see that there are many different variations of this recipe that are available, so you should have no trouble finding one that appeals to you.
In order to make the traditional version, it always helps to use an Indonesian cookbook or to use an Indonesian website so that you can be certain that the recipe is authentic. Nevertheless, if it includes the ingredients that we have mentioned above, you can assume that it most likely is authentic.
So there you have it: everything you need to know about the tasty and traditional corn fritter, and why this snack is worth a day all of its own. We hope that you enjoy making and, most importantly, eating corn fritters on this day!
