PHOTO: PIXTAL IMAGES/PHOTOLIBRARY
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Buzz Brandt
u Dough fried in fat has been a staple of the diets of various human populations, from prehistoric Native Americans to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
OUGHNUTS—whether they are glazed, sugared,
iced, or filled—are much loved by Americans. It may be hard to believe, but some sources estimate that we consume ten billion of them annually. That’s billion with a b! Equally eye opening is the fact that less than a century ago, these tasty treats were relatively rare. It was only in home kitchens or small provincial bakeries that one could find these deep-fried delights, and it would take a world war and—indirectly—the efforts of the BPO Elks to spark a national interest in the delicious snacks with a hole in the center.
Doughnuts in America
It seems that doughnuts have been with us forever. Since very early times, pieces of dough fried in fat have been a staple of the diets of various human populations. In prehistoric Oklahoma, for example, Native Americans fried ring-shaped pastries made from acorn flour, and other Native Americans, such as the Shawnee, once made a fried doughnut- type food from cornmeal sweetened with tree sap. The Romans ate a fried
PHOTO: ©JOHN GRESS/CORBIS 36 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1
dough snack called a globulus, while the ancient Greeks chomped on a similar treat called an enkris. It is difficult to say with certainty how the American doughnut origi- nated, but some sources agree that it is a legacy of Dutch settlers who came to America during the seventeenth century. Called oliekoecken (“oil cakes” or “fried cakes”), the doughnuts made by the Dutch in America were walnut-
sized nuggets of sweetened dough fried in oil or boiling lard and were sometimes served with fruit or a nut in the center. These early modern doughnuts were a special food to the Dutch and were primarily eaten during the Christmas season and on other special occasions.
Other sources suggest that the first modern doughnuts in America were brought to the New World during the
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