OK, Fried Kool-Aid Balls at Chicken Charlie's, Del Mar Fair, Is Breaking News Across The USA...
It's a little hard to ignore, maybe a slow news day, but the damn fried kool-aid balls apparently are more than just a new San Diego County Fair hit. They are getting traction across the nation with social network bizz and news coverage.
The balls look like red donut holes, and while some say they also taste rather like donut holes, other fair attendees seem to like the new junk food. One customer of fried Kool-Aid told Sign on San Diego, "It starts off tart and tangy, and then finishes really sweet... I love this stuff."
Boghosian is no stranger to fried candy concoctions. He claims to have invented more than 100 deep-fried treats to serve up at county fairs. In previous years he has created fried fare such as fried Klondike Bars, fried Pop Tarts, and fried Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies.
The tangy red dough balls have really taken off, doing much better than Chicken Charlie's previous new products. Over the fair's opening weekend, the food stall quickly went through its first 150 pounds of Kool-Aid powder and 1,500 pounds of flour - though the rest of the ingredients are top secret.
Boghosian, who weighs about 300 pounds, said he has sold 100,000 fried Klondike bars last year and 2 million fried Oreo cookies over the past decade. But the $5.95 fried Kool-Aid is quickly becoming his top seller.
"It's been huge," Boghosian said. "People are loving it."
Deep-fried Kool-Aid in its finished form is like a pastry, first sweet and then tangy, according to delighted tasters. The recipe is top secret but it involves a whole lot of Kool-Aid powder, flour, powdered sugar and hot oil.
"It's really good, different, but a little more like a doughnut than Kool-Aid," Angelyn Lucia told the North Caroline Times after polishing off a serving of deep-fried cherry Kool-Aid.
Another taste described it as a "New Orleans Hushpuppy with Kool-Aid flavor.
Boghosian's fried fare has gained him a cult following as well as appearances on the Travel Channel and CNN. He said that his latest invention was a runaway success, outselling his other deep-fried items two to one.
"That's because it tastes so darn good," Boghosian said.
Fried foods of the sort served up at county and state fairs get the thumbs-down not just from obesity specialists but also cardiologists. The American Heart Association urges people to limit their intake of deep-fried foods, noting that they contain saturated and trans fats that can raise the risk for heart disease by increasing levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol.
