Golden brown and cylindrical: deep fried corn at Calico County.

• KAT ROBINSON
• FRIED CORN ON THE COB: Necessary?

What is the deal with fried corn? I mean, seriously. Grav and I grabbed a bite to eat the other night at Calico County (one of my favorite Fort Smith restaurants) and he chose fried corn on the cob as one of his five vegetable plate selections.

*I won’t go into the whole argument over whether it should be called a vegetable plate; he also chose a loaded baked potato, green beans that were laced with bacon and similarly doctored black eyed peas to go with his squash and rice casserole and roll.

• KAT ROBINSON

Now, we as Americans are getting known for our propensity to batter and deep fry everything — I see evidence of this all summer long at fairs and festivals. But corn? I mean, we’re talking about nature’s automatic meal-on-a-stick. It comes pre-wrapped in a husk, requires minimal preparation and can be eaten on or off the cob. So what’s with battering and deep frying it as well?

Grav says it’s good, though the kernels don’t get as firm and fluffy as what you find with regular roasted or boiled corn. The flavor is fine, thanks to the complicated batter Calico County uses. It’s buttery and it’s warm and it’s kinda neat looking, so I can’t fault them on the side.

I hear Dixie Café also offers the golden cylinders of fried-ness. There are likely others. What do you think about it?