Dolly Parton Shared Some Fan-Favorite Dollywood Dishes — Think BBQ and Funnel Cake
Dolly Parton recently appeared on Good Morning America live from her theme park, Dollywood. The queen of country showed ABC anchor Robin Roberts around the Pigeon Forge property, with some new additions to the park this year. Parton also shared some recipes that Dollywood guests request at every visit.
Dolly Parton praised her team at Dollywood
In her conversation with Roberts, Parton credited the entire Dollywood staff for keeping the theme park going throughout the pandemic this past tumultuous year. The multi-Grammy winner considers her team as “partners”.
“The people here are like family,” Parton told Roberts on Good Morning America. “Anytime you have a crisis of any kind, you just kind of pull together and get it done. People always brag about the staff here at Dollywood. … We’re partners. That’s the way I am with my band. We’re just all partners here. It takes us all to make it work.”
Parton noted team member Aaron Banks, the park’s culinary director, who keeps guests coming back for more delicious Dollywood dishes.
“We cheer him [on] all the time here at Dollywood because he makes sure all the food is great,” the 9 to 5 star said. “Everybody loves it. He’s a great boss and has a lot of talent — we’re lucky to have him.”
Dollywood delights include BBQ brisket sliders
Banks described a fan favorite dish of barbecue brisket sliders, that comes topped with homemade BBQ sauce as well as apple and cabbage slaw.
“It’s incredible,” Banks remarked. “We have our own Dollywood seasoning we put on it — we smoke the brisket for about six and a half hours. We hand slice it, then we build our sandwiches and our guests are just out of [their] mind about it.”
The culinary director also listed their New England-style lobster roll as a top pick, which comes served on top of a big buttered bun and stalk of celery.
Other popular menu items include hand-breaded fish and chips, Great Smoky Mountain paella and beef bulgogi nachos, and a Cuban sandwich with plantain chips.
Dolly Parton helped prepare funnel cake
Banks used the theme of spring in the Smokies as inspiration for the dishes. A special dessert includes a delectable lavender honey mini funnel cake, consisting of swirled fried dough topped with powdered sugar, chantilly cream, a bit of lavender-infused honey and some fresh blackberries and blueberries. Parton joked of the dessert’s sugar content.
“Who wants healthy?” Parton kidded. “You think one berry is going to counteract this sugar? I don’t think so.”
The Jolene singer knows a thing or two about sweets. Parton recently teamed up with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams to launch her own ice cream flavor.
“WE MADE AN ICE CREAM WITH DOLLY,” the company’s website posted on Instagram on March 25, explaining that proceeds will go to Parton’s charitable foundation. “Strawberry Pretzel Pie is our ode to the Queen of Country: sweet and salty, with timeless appeal, deep American roots, and makes you feel good,” the post read. “Benefitting Dolly’s @imaginationlibrary, a book gifting program that gives free books to children from birth to age five.”
The Parton-themed flavor was instantly in demand, causing the site to crash. Jeni’s Strawberry Pretzel Pie is currently sold out, with potential availability in August.
