Submitted By Ruthann Wike
And every June, 2, since 1938, we celebrate it - the donut or doughnut - on National Donut Day in the US. The first-ever National Donut Day was celebrated in Chicago in 1938 as a tribute to the Donut Lassies, according to the Salvation Army, which champions the day. Researching the origins of the donut and Donut Day, there are some interesting facts.
Donuts are nothing new. “Cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour” was mentioned back in Leviticus as an acceptable offering to God.
Dutch cuisine included “olykoeks” or Oil Cakes, that were lumps of dough fried in hog’s fat. Besides the Dutch, English and German cuisine all had their versions of fried dough.
One version of the story tells how the hunk of dough was crispy on the outside, but the dough in the center would still be raw. Someone had the idea to cut the center out so that all the dough would be crispy - - and so the Doughnut got it’s hole! “The Dutch solution to the gooey, uncooked center of the doughnut was to stuff it with fillings that did not require cooking but Hansen Gregory, an American ship captain, had another solution. In 1847 Gregory punched a hole in the center of the dough ball before frying. The hole increased the surface area, exposure to the hot oil, and therefore eliminated the uncooked center. “
Soft and sugary, The Doughnut has spurred the spirits of World War One soldiers on the front lines. During World War I, the Salvation Army sent 250 volunteers to France to provide snacks and supplies to U.S. troops stationed there. The female volunteers had planned to bake cakes and pies for soldiers on the front lines. There was just one problem: Ovens became harder to access the closer they got to the battlefield. But they did have pans at their disposal, which they could fill with lard and heat over a fire. Switching their focus to doughnuts was a no-brainer.
The volunteers had all the ingredients they needed to make doughnuts, plus the equipment to fry them in. . . . They rolled out the dough with juice bottles and shell casings. They cut the doughnuts with empty baking powder cans and punched out the holes using part of a broken coffeemaker. The women, who came to be known as Doughnut Lassies, were so dedicated to their work that they were willing to risk their lives.
After the soldiers returned home, their desire for Doughnuts followed them. In 1920, the first automated donut-making machine was crested. The 1934 World’s Fair in Chicago advertised the donuts as “the food hit og the Century of Progress.” Donuts became a hit across the country and have become a breakfast favorite as well as ‘good-ole comfort food.’
Searching further, the cake doughnut is very much an American invention. Around 1830, when leavening became commercially available, New Englanders used it to make the dough rise more quickly, as opposed to the traditional method of using yeast.
U S Legacies June 2023
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