Walt's Favorite Hush Puppies

Up north they're called corn fritters, down south, hush puppies.  Up north, we serve them with maple syrup or honey butter, down south, Cajun seasoning, Old Bay, or spicy butter.  It's a compliment to seafood bakes, a delicious fair snack, or just old-fashioned comfort food.  Who doesn't love hush puppies?

I'm actually pretty pumped to share this recipe...  This is a recipe that has history to it, and at this point, I think everybody knows how I feel about Disney recipes with a story.

Hush puppies were a favorite of Walt's.  Who can blame him?  They're pretty awesome.  And when it came to opening Disneyland, hush puppies were available at kiosks and food carts, and as a staple at the Blue Bayou Restaurant (where, last I checked, they're still available and are to that restaurant what cheddar cheese beer soup is to Le Cellier).  In California, these distinctly southern cowboy treats were all but unheard of, and it turned out people couldn't get enough of them.  What a lot of people didn't realize was that the recipe they used was a variation of Walt's own recipe. How cool is that?!

When it came to opening Walt Disney World, hush puppies were also initially available at carts and as treats at various snack counters in Frontierland...  And what was immensely popular at Disneyland were all but untouched at Disney World.  The best anybody could guess is that hush puppies just weren't the culinary novelty that they were in Disneyland and people weren't interested in buying at a park what they had pretty widely available outside of the park (apparently even McDonalds, for a time, served hush puppies in some of their southern locations).  Over time, the hush puppies were phased out, having been replaced/eclipsed in popularity by other classic Disney foods (turkey legs, anybody?).

Of course, in classic tourist fashion, as soon as they were phased out, people started to miss them and ask for them back.  While they were never fully integrated back into the park, people still sought them out.  Right now, they can still be found very rarely as a treat at snack kiosks in Frontierland.  However, a variation of the same recipe (only with corn and chives) can be found at lunch at Trail's End, and they're also featured at Narcoossee's seasonally (typically spring and fall) as an appetizer along with a shellfish bake.  Reports of the return of the hush puppy tend to spread like wildfire across Disney food forums and snack credits tremble at the idea of their re-introduction back into the park.

This recipe is the same basic recipe that's used for hush puppies across all the parks and park-owned/operated restaurants.  The nice thing is that they're super duper easy to make, almost impossible to mess up, and not messy to eat.  Which was great for my son who started hovering when the first batch hit the oil, and scurried in periodically when he thought some of the latest batch was cool enough to swipe eat. 

~~~~  °o°  ~~~~

Walt's Favorite Hush Puppies

As was served around Walt Disney World, with variations served at Trail's End Resteraunt at Ft. Wilderness Resort and Narcoossee's at The Grand Floridian Resort and Spa

 

°o°  1 cup flour
°o°  1 cup cornmeal

°o°  1 tablespoon diced shallot

°o°  2 tablespoons finely chopped bacon

°o°  1 1/2 teaspoon chipped parsley

°o°  1/4 cup corn, fresh, frozen, or canned 

°o°  1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

°o°  2 teaspoons sugar

°o°  1 1/2 teaspoon fine/table salt
°o°  1/2 teaspoon black pepper

°o°  1 egg

°o°  1 cup milk

°o°  Oil or shortening, for frying

Preheat oil to a steady 350 degrees.  Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients but egg, milk, and oil.  In a separate, small bowl, combine the egg and milk and beat until a light yellow color.  Just before frying, add wet to dry ingredients and mix well.  

Using a small spoon, scoop out about a tablespoon of dough and fry in the oil until golden brown on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes, turning once to ensure even browning.  Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.  

Serve warm, drizzled with butter or maple syrup, or tossed in Cajun seasoning.  

~~~~  °o°  ~~~~