Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
Just like Mom used to fry.
What could be more American than apple pie? Easy. Deep fried apple pie. And you needn't wait until summer for some carnie at the fair to snuff out a menthol and drop a wedge of frozen pie into bubbling grease. Aim higher.
Slice of Humboldt Pie (3750 Harris St.) makes fried apple pies you can hold in one hand that are stuffed with firm, tart and tender chunks of spiced fruit. The crust is flaky and buttery, not leaden, the kind of ribbon-hogging texture that takes years to develop what they call "a hand for." The rest of us will just focus on the hand holding the pie. If you are a planner, you can call up and have such pies made to order. If, on the other hand, you are at the mercy of impulse, you can pick one up at Old Town Coffee & Chocolates for $5.