Fried Onion Rings

[Littleneckhalfshell]

On a recent episode of Jas. Townsend and sons, they show a recipe for Onion Rings in an 1801 cook book

If you search the web, most of the pages place Onion Rings no earlier than the early 20th century and not really popular until the 20's or 30's. I think Jas. Townsend speaks of it as 'late 1700's' I wonder if there are any other possible earlier references for other fried foods (other than the dutch donuts) and how long would fried onion rings have to be around for them to be listed in a published cook book? I want some onion rings with my fried oysters

;-)

[William Brand]

I have found several references to vegetables fried in tempura in Japan as early as the 16th century, as noted by the Portuguese, so Depending on how you define the classic onion ring, it's possibly as old as the 1500s.