Destin has added another title to go along with ?World?s Luckiest Fishing Village.? Now the city is also ?Home of the World?s Largest Hushpuppy.?
Thursday night, local artist and chef Taylor Shaw drew a bead on a record that has otherwise not been claimed. By the end of the evening, his monstrous pup weighed in at 30.87 pounds.
When it all started, no one knew what to expect, but they all hoped for a belly full of breaded goodness. Shaw was more than happy to provide.
?It was a great time,? said Shaw, a former chef at Dewey Destin?s. ?We ran into a few snags, but it all came together.?
One unexpected hurdle appeared when his large frying container began to leak before any dough even touched oil. But the ingenuity of Shaw?s friends and family helped the evening stay on track.
?I know everyone had a lot of fun,? said Scott Labbe, Shaw?s assistant. ?And I know he loved all the support.?
Shaw took the concept of a snowball, and applied it to this Southern staple, rolling it through more batter after each dipping.
When the weight of the ball forced the pup to take the shape of it?s container, Shaw knew he had maximized the evening?s resources.
?It looked like an asteroid landed in my fryer,? said Shaw. ?I thought Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck were running around down there.?
Dewey Destin?s Seafood Restaurant and Market will soon be selling T-shirts to commemorate the occasion. For more information, call 837-7575.
?We?re going to do this every year,? said Labbe. ?We want to go bigger and bigger.?
