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Fried dough is a North American food associated with outdoor food stands in carnivals , amusement parks , fairs, rodeos , and seaside resorts (though it can be made at home). Fried dough is the specific name for a particular variety of fried bread made of a yeast dough; see the accompanying images for an example of use on carnival-booth signs. Fried dough is also known as fry dough , fry bread , fried bread , doughboys , elephant ears , frying saucers , (unrelated to scones ), buñuelos in the case of smaller pieces. In New England, they're also known as either totteeters (smaller in size) or tottellers (which are comparatively larger in size). These foods are virtually identical to each other, and recognizably different from other fried dough foods such as doughnuts , beignets , or fritters .
In Canada, pieces of fried dough were sometimes called beaver tails. According to Bill Castleman , a writer of books on Canadian word origins, the name referred to quick-baked dough "especially in early 19th-century places where people might camp for one night and where there was no frying pan." In 1978, Pam & Grant of Ottawa, Ontario founded the BeaverTails chain of restaurants specializing in the sale of fried dough pastries which are hand stretched to the shape of a beaver's tail.
A smaller Italian variant common in North America is the zeppole .
Tottellers and totteeters are a New England variants on fried dough—usually served at breakfast, usually with melted butter. Other condiments (like salt, pepper, or soy sauce) may be added.
Similar food is found in Europe, also typically from outdoors stands in fairs. For example, in continental Croatia fried dough is known as languši .

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