Anchors Away!

Though surely not a food item recommended on any weight loss plan, native Rhode Islanders and road trip enthusiasts alike will delight in chomping and chowing on “dough boys.” Heavy as a barnacle-encrusted anchor, each irregular plate-sized disk of deep fried dough sprinkled with sugar is one more of Little Rhody’s “to-dive-for” landmark eats on the cheap.

Making the argument that you can’t eat just one dough boy during a single sitting, or assuming a casual stance, the act of consumption qualifies as a meal one can handle on the fly.

Dough boys--deep fried disks of dough, can be had at fairs, festivals and carnivals held on Rhode Island terrain during the warmer weather. Not to be sacrificed during the colder months, a little dough will purchase a 1 lb. bag of Calise & Sons Bakery dough found in the section for refrigerated goods at any one of our local supermarkets. In for a pound, you’re ready to fry—your own dough boys in the home stretch.

Having watched my mother plenty of times, these simple steps will enable your dough boys to rise to the occasion:

1. Remove refrigerated dough from plastic bag and place inside a floured bowl; cover with dish towel and wait for dough to rise.

2. Pinch off a chunk of dough. Roll and stretch it into shape. Drop piece into large frying pan containing hot cooking oil. Flip dough once during cooking to lightly brown both sides. Place puffy dough boy on a paper-toweled plate to absorb oil. Sprinkle with granulated or powdered sugar. I like to coat mine with a little butter so the sugar really sticks. Serve hot.

3. Continue steps 1 and 2 until all the dough is used up. Heavy hitters to begin with, dough boys are meant to be eaten right away or they become greasy and tough.

Those who are hot to trot in Rhode Island know that award winning dough boys are served year round at Iggy’s Doughboys & Chowder House located at 889 Oakland Beach Avenue in Warwick and 1157 Point Judith Road in Narragansett.

Iggy’s of Warwick happens to be one of Rhode Island’s famous landmarks as well as the oldest beach stand in the state. Built in 1924, the building survived two major hurricanes and is still standing on its original structure. Cooked to order, a half dozen dough boys currently cost $5.49, and a whopping dozen, only $ 9.99 with your choice of granulated sugar and cinnamon or powdered sugar sprinkles.

When in Rhode Island, you don’t need to consort with shady characters to roll with the dough. Either roll your own, or roll into Iggy’s for a fix. The Ocean State may constitute a mere 48 mi. stretch from north to south, but it’s certainly no stretch of the truth that Rhody's dough boys are the best around.