Is It Doughnut Or Donut? What Is The Correct Spelling? Well, it’s actually both. Most dictionaries have it spelled “Doughnut” and the word “Donut” is listed as an alternative. Some historians believe that during the 19th century an American newspaper misspelled the word “Doughnut” and published it as “Donut”. Since then both words were accepted however the word “Donut” is now more widely used in America.
Brief History Of Doughnuts
The origin of delicious donuts is heavily debated throughout the world. There are varieties of donuts eaten all over the world and its fried dough is not exclusive to any culture or country. The exact time, person and place for the invention of donut is still unknown, but there are some major events that took place in the world that give the idea of how donuts were first made.
One of the popular questions raised by people from all over the world is: Why donuts have holes in them? Some people say that with the hole in donut, it becomes easier to digest while some say it was made in this shape to save some ingredients.
Whatever the reason may be, the truth is, it’s loved by people of all ages. One of the stories behind donut’s hole is when a New England ship captain, named Hanson Gregory was feeling unhappy with lots of dough in his donut served on his ship. So he suggested to his chef to put a hole in the middle of the doughnut.
Creation of First Doughnut Machine
A Russian born immigrant named Adolph Levitt invented the first donut machine in 1920. And the machine donut-making process was first featured at the World’s Fair in Chicago in the year 1934. And since then it became an instant hit in Russia.
The Evolution of Donuts The history of the tasty doughnut goes back hundreds of years, long before the discovery of the modern World. In the old Medieval times, Arab chefs started frying up tiny portions of yeast dough, drenching the plain fresh fried blobs in sweet syrup to further sweeten them.
In ancient Rome & Greece, bakery chefs would actually fry small strips of pastry dough & then coat them with fresh honey or fish sauce. These Arab fritters (donuts) spread into the whole northern Europe in the mid 1400’s and then became famous throughout England & the Netherlands.
In the 1400s, Germany, where sugar was extremely hard to come by, they were often prepared savory with food fillings like meat or mushroom. The Pilgrims & Dutch people brought donuts to America. Eventually holes were included to the center of the prepared fritter to make the shape of tasty doughnut we are all familiar with today.
This food invention actually came out of necessity. At a particular point, egg yolks were included in the prepared dough – it was then discovered that this produced a richer & firmer end-product.
The issue was, the fritters that were prepared would actually end up raw in the center after deep frying – the exterior of the donut would cook before the inner savory part of the doughnut did. The inclusion of a tiny hole in the center of the donut eliminated that issue.
Doughnuts Today
Large chains and food owners like Krispy Kreme & Dunkin’ Donuts have actually dominated the whole doughnut world for the past few years but also people love to make this sweet dish in their homes and it has become one of the major parts of modern-day parties and weddings.
Specialty sweet shops preparing homemade donuts with a unique set of flavors & toppings are cropping up in some of the major cities across America.
Maple & bacon donuts, fresh doughnut ice cream sandwiches, & even hamburgers on donuts instead of buns; it’s pretty clear that donuts aren’t just for dunking purposes anymore.
