Twinkie

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A Twinkie is a "Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling" popular in the United States and elsewhere in North America. It is distributed by Continental Baking Co., which is owned by Dallas-based Interstate Bakeries Corporation.

Contents 1 Twinkie production 2 Deep-fried Twinkies 2.1 Preparation 3 Cultural references 3.1 Twinkie defense 3.2 Twinking 3.3 Slang 3.4 Other uses 4 Urban legend 5 See also 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] Twinkie production

The Twinkie was invented on April 6, 1930 by a bakery manager James Dewar in Schiller Park, Illinois, making thrifty use of pans that were used for shortcake production only in strawberry season. Twinkies originally contained a banana cream filling, but this was replaced with a vanilla cream filling because of a banana shortage during World War II.^[1] The original flavor would be revisited more than half a century later as an alternative flavor.

In June 2007, Hostess announced the return of the banana-flavored Twinkie. The banana-flavored version had previously been offered as a limited-time promotion. Due in part to sales increasing by 20% when the banana version was offered, the banana Twinkie will now be produced permanently.^[2]

Continental Foods admitted on a 2006 episode of television's How It's Made that Twinkies are, in fact, baked, ending years of speculation. The Washington Post reported on April 13, 2005 that "the cakes are baked for 10 minutes, then the cream filling is injected through three holes in the top, which is browned from baking. The cake is flipped before packaging, so the rounded yellow bottom becomes the top." Hostess was the implied source of this information.^[3] A 2007 book, Twinkie, Deconstructed, examines where all the ingredients come from and how they are made.^[4]

[edit] Deep-fried Twinkies

A deep-fried Twinkie involves freezing the popular Hostess Twinkie cake, dipping it into batter and deep frying it to create a variation on the traditional snack cake. According to the Hostess website, Christopher Sell, from Rugby, England, invented the "fried twinkie" in 2001 at the ChipShop, his restaurant in Brooklyn, New York.^[5] According to CNN, the dish was adopted by Chris Mullen, but invented at a "Brooklyn restaurant."

It was described by a The New York Times story in this way: "Something magical occurs when the pastry hits the hot oil. The creamy white vegetable shortening filling liquefies, impregnating the sponge cake with its luscious vanilla flavor... The cake itself softens and warms, nearly melting, contrasting with the crisp, deep-fried crust in a buttery and suave way. The piece de resistance, however, is a ruby-hued berry sauce, adding a tart sophistication to all that airy sugary goodness."^[6]

The deep-fried Twinkie was a runaway success after Mullen and his brother started selling it at county fairs in mid-August. "We sold 26,000 Twinkies in 18 days," By 2002, the Arkansas State Fair had introduced the fried Twinkie to great popular acclaim, and the notion spread to other state fairs across the U.S., as well as some establishments that specialize in fried foods.^[7] Fried Twinkies are sold throughout the U.S. in state fairs, as well as ball park games.

[edit] Preparation

Although variations exist in the form, the deep-fried Twinkie is usually prepared with a batter intended for fish, typically consisting of flour, egg and vinegar. Prior to dipping, a wooden or plastic stick is often inserted through one end (to allow the consumer to hold it), and the Twinkie is then frozen overnight to prevent melting while being deep fried. After coating, conventional cooking oil is typically used, although beef suet or tallow is sometimes used to give a "meaty" flavor.

When prepared formally, the deep-fried Twinkie is usually topped with powdered sugar and accompanied by a fruit dipping sauce. Raspberry sauce is the most frequently utilized in recipes, although some restaurants may use chocolate or caramel sauce. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is sometimes added.^[8]

[edit] Cultural references

[edit] Twinkie defense

The Twinkie defense is a derogatory term for a criminal defendant's claim that some unusual factor (such as allergies, coffee, nicotine, or sugar) diminished the defendant's responsibility for the alleged crime. The term arose from Herb Caen's description of the trial of Dan White, who was convicted in the fatal shootings of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk. During the trial, psychiatrist Martin Blinder testified that White had suffered from depression, causing diminished capacity; as an example of this, he mentioned that White, formerly a health food advocate, had begun eating junk food. Twinkies, specifically, were never actually mentioned in the case.

[edit] Twinking

In Role-playing games, the term "twink" is used to describe someone who, within the confines and restrictions that a game provides, attempts to maximize the effectiveness of his character in one or more categories. The process is called twinking and a character made in this fashion is considered "twinked" or "twinked out". The term "Twinkie" was used in Everquest in 1999, where players could acquire a bronze plate armor that could be equipped by lower level characters. The low level characters were completely clad in golden bronze armor with a high armor value but still only had a handful of hitpoints, hence the referral to a "Hostess Twinkie" - bright golden outside, soft and squishy inside. Prior to this, the term was used in the mid-1990's on MUCKs and MUDs for a player who would not concede to defeat or play fairly with others.

[edit] Slang

Twink and twinkie are gay slang terms describing an attractive young or young-looking gay man (usually in his late teens or early twenties) with a slender build and little or no body hair. (see: Twink (gay slang))

The slang "Twinkie" can also be used by East Asians describes other East Asians with very little difference in lifestyle and/or mannerisms to caucasian or "white" people. The term is further described as being "yellow" on the outside and "white" on the inside, similar to the appearance of the Twinkie snack.^[9] The term Twinkie generally has very negative connotations and most East Asians use it in a derogatory manner to put down those Asians they perceive as "self hating" or not being able to maintain their heritage (e.g., they do not speak their parents' native language or practice certain customs expected of East Asians). It is akin to calling an African American person an Uncle Tom or Oreo; or coconut for South Asians (India|Pakistan|Sri Lanka|Bangladesh).

[edit] Other uses

The Minnesota Twins baseball team is sometimes called the "Twinkies" by Chicago White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson in a derogatory manner. The term originated in the Twin Cities area and gains considerable currency whenever the Twins are doing poorly.

Archie Bunker, on the popular 1970s television series All in the Family liked Twinkies and became irate whenever his wife, Edith, forgot to put one into his lunchbox.^[10]

In the game of airsoft, jokes have gone across the web of how players often eat twinkies during games. This originated as paintball players tend to talk bad about airsoft, and the term "twinkies" were referring to how they were apparently weaker than paintball players. Airsofters have embraced this idea however, and many now do eat twinkies while playing.^{[citation needed]}

The 1975-1976 novelty song "Junk Food Junkie", written and recorded by Larry Groce, mentions the Hostess Twinkie in its opening lines.

In the 1984 film, Ghostbusters, Egon Spengler relates the psychokenetic energy level of New York City to a Twinkie weighing 600 lbs.

Twinkies also appear in the movie "Die Hard", when the cop Sgt. Al Powell buys them for his pregnant wife in his first scene in a shop. In the middle of the movie Detective John McClane "fires down a 1000-year-old Twinkie". Twinkies are mentioned in "Die Hard 2", when McClane is trying to get the fax number to Al Powell's station to fax him photos of dangerous criminals and McClane says "Get that Twinkie out of your mouth and grav a pencil".

In some ski resorts in Canada, "Twinkies" has been used as a somewhat derogatory term for ski instructors, by other mountain workers. It has been said it refers to the way they often ski in a synchronized manner.

A centuries-old Twinkie-like parody - a Kremie^[11] - is briefly seen in the 2008 animated film WALL-E by Pixar Studios. In an early scene, the robot WALL-E sets the Kremie out as food for his cockroach companion on one of the rotating shelves inside WALL-E's makeshift abode.

Molly Peterson asks her husband Carl, how many Twinkies he had eaten that day, with later reference to his weight increase, during the film You, Me and Dupree.

In the Family Guy episode Sibling Rivalry, Morgan Freeman is heard narrating the fictional film "The Narrator", in which he describes the soft substance on the walls as being "Like a twinkie, like a twinkie". When the Millennium Bug wipes out society in the Season two opening episode, Peter Griffin leads his family to a Twinkie factory in Natick, Massachusetts.

In the film UHF, "Weird Al" Yankovic makes Twinkie Weiner sandwiches, wrapping the twinkie around the hot dog like a bun.

In Men vs. Wild a Man vs. Wild special featuring Bear Grylls and Will Ferrell as a special guest. Will eats a Twinkie, their lone survival ration, after only being on the ground for a matter of minutes while Bear was off in the distant collecting sticks. Upon Bear's return to Will he finds out that the Twinkie has been eaten already, by finding the wrapper in Will's bag.

[edit] Urban legend

A common urban legend claims that Twinkies have an indefinite shelf life, or can last for a relatively long time due to chemicals used in production. The myth probably originated from the fact that Twinkies are made without dairy products and thus spoil more slowly than most bakery items. One specific experiment conducted by a California middle school science teacher proved that a Twinkie can remain completely unchanged in color and in shape for a period as long as 6 years when kept in varying sunlight.^[12]

[edit] See also

• Deep-fried Mars Bar
• Ding Dong
• Fried ice cream
• Ho Hos
• Hostess

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official site
• The T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S Project
• Twinkies at 75: munch 'em, fry 'em, save 'em for years, The Christian Science Monitor
• Twinkie ingredients
• Twinkie test
• New junk food fad: Deep-fried Twinkies
• Foodkipedia article on the Deep-fried Twinkie