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• Though the origins of the doughnut are lost in history, the making of the modern doughnut can be traced back to World War I and the Salvation Army. With troops weary and hungry after 36 consecutive days of rain in France, the Salvation Army gals mixed scrap ingredients and fried them in helmets. Sanitary? Maybe not, but a success? Most definitely.
• Before you ask, according to Bartleby, both doughnut and donut are indeed acceptable spellings.
• If you bake them, they will come: one study shows our brains are trained to “light up” at the sight of doughnuts. (Of course the choice was between a doughnut and a screwdriver – the tool, er, not the drink – so the jury is still out on that one).
• Still, it seems that primitive creatures (from Homer Simpson on up) do have a particular predilection for the sugary sweet – Florida officials once attempted to lure a mystery animal (either “Big Foot” or a “big orange ball of fur”) by offering doughnuts.
• After all, the doughnut (at least, the powdered variety) is a natural phenomenon.
• No time for breakfast on your transit? Then try this trans-fat laded treat (if your heart dares): Caffeinated doughnuts. Speaking of heart-attacks, how about a wedding cake made of doughnuts?
• If you have too much time on your transit, consider becoming a patron at a Topless doughnut restaurant.
• One of the most famous doughnut snafus was JFK’s declaration “I am a jelly doughnut!” when he bungled a speech in Germany (which wasn’t really his fault) – the full funny story can be found here.
• In an oddly Hansel and Gretel twist, crack smokers stole a delivery truck … but were caught because they left a 15 mile trail of doughnuts. “I don’t know if it was a need for transportation or if they just had the munchies,” police spokesman Rob Callahan said of a motive.
What are your favorite decadent doughnuts, Flossers? Excessive doughnut puns welcomed.
Hungry for more? Venture into the Dietribes archive.
‘Dietribes’ appears every other Wednesday. Food photos taken by Johanna Beyenbach. You might remember that name from our post about her colorful diet.
Comments (18)
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Except the Kennedy “gaffe” never happened (Google it – I can’t post a link here, but I’ve listed one as my website)
The reporter whose work you cited was apparently a poor factchecker.
posted by Alex on 5-6-2009 at 2:24 pm
Mmmmmm…Doughnuts. Krispy Kremes are delivered fresh every Thursday here on campus, and my friends and I get super excited for DOUGHNUT DAY!
Maybe it’s just me and my childhood love, but my favorite doughnut is still the cake doughnut with glaze and sprinkles.
posted by Kieran on 5-6-2009 at 3:23 pm
Puck’s Donuts in both Phoenix and Ashland Oregon (RECOMMENDED) have the best fresh Raspberry Jelly filled Powedered Donuts around. They even have chunks of raspberry AND the seeds left in! Open from 5AM to 2PM, the one in Phoenix is next door to the best Bento placei in the area, too!
posted by Kate on 5-6-2009 at 3:41 pm
Ever heard of a boy named Hansen Crockett Gregory? According to a book I had when I was a kid, he is supposedly the one who invented the “modern” donut, with a hole in the middle. As the story goes, his mother fried dough, but the centers never cooked, so he poked them out with a fork and voila! Geez, I read that almost 30 years ago…how come I can’t remember where I put my keys 10 minutes ago?
posted by Danny on 5-6-2009 at 4:23 pm
I just googled “Ich bin ein Berliner”. I didn’t find anything that said it was false. In fact there are numerous sites that link the speech. Just saying.
reCaptcha: the johnny
posted by Nathan on 5-6-2009 at 4:45 pm
Check Youtube. They have a bunch of video of him saying it.
posted by Nathan on 5-6-2009 at 4:46 pm
No one denies that Kennedy actually said “Ich bin ein Berliner” just that it does not actually translate into I am a doughnut. Check out the story from the link in Alex’s name to get the details
posted by Richard on 5-6-2009 at 5:13 pm
Found a link at About.com under Urban Legends. Long story short, yes, Berliner means both citizen and doughnut, but if you call yourself a New Yorker, no one who understands English is going to think you meant the magazine.
posted by Pam on 5-6-2009 at 6:47 pm
“I am an American” or “I am American” are interchangeable in English, but only the second form is used to describe nationalities in German: “Ich bin Americaner(in).” *The parentheses denote the feminine ending some of us really should use when saying such things.*
The addition of the word “ein” changes the meaning entirely. In German, “ein” means “one” or “a(n)” and has just as many meanings and usages as those words have in English. “I am a jelly doughnut” is an accurate (and my favorite) translation, but it’s definitely not the only one, and not the one Kennedy’s German audience would have thought of upon hearing it.
English idioms are funny when taken literally, too, though. I just had to forcefully defenestrate my calendar because my professor let fall the second item of her footgear directly onto my cranium, from the direction in which I have no sight. I am now stuck a great distance North along a foul-smelling watercourse without any means of locomotion, and must communicate fervently with a deity in hopes of rescue.
posted by Valkyrie on 5-6-2009 at 7:02 pm
Couldn’t have said it better myself, Valkyrie. That’s probably the best explanation I’ve seen of the whole Berliner thing. A Berliner is a jelly-filled pastry (not unlike a doughnut), but I doubt many in the crowd thought Kennedy was suggesting that he was made of pastry. If you think about it, lots of foods are “named after” citizens of German towns – frankfurter, hamburger, etc.
posted by Lynley on 5-6-2009 at 8:41 pm
Donuts! I love donuts…and am a big fan of Dunkin’ Donuts (not Krispy Kreme). However, the closest one is in Auckland airport of all places! *sigh*
posted by Dawn on 5-6-2009 at 9:50 pm
Thanks, Lynley! My professors used Kennedy’s faux-faux pas as an example when teaching us how to express various nationalities in German, so I can’t take credit for it. They also clued us in to an excellent German-English online dictionary, the link to which I came back to the comments to belatedly share. It was an absolute lifesaver! I hope it helps my fellow German students/enthusiasts out there. (It’s listed on this comment as my website.)
And Now For Something Completely Different:
This is the third Dietribe IN A ROW to exhaustively feature a food I’d already been craving for at least two weeks. My stomach and I are thinking of demanding royalties. Perhaps a restraining order, as well . . .
posted by Valkyrie on 5-7-2009 at 3:26 am
First Obama made me want to get a hamburger, now you guys are making me want some Krispy Kreme. Chocolate glazed…nom nom nom nom.
posted by Redd on 5-7-2009 at 1:10 pm
Dede’s Donuts in Waycross, GA. Redefines doughnuts, there are none finer, Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts do not even compare.
posted by Steve on 5-7-2009 at 1:19 pm
Is there a relation to doughnuts and WWI soldiers called “doughboys”? As in is did one get their name from the other? Coincidence? I think not!
posted by SDK on 5-7-2009 at 1:25 pm
Ahh, Dunkin Donuts chocolate-iced French cruller or their apple-cinnamon filled or their glazed or their Boston cream. Forget it, I’ll have one of each.
posted by Catherine on 5-7-2009 at 2:37 pm
Favorite donut: apple fritter, hands down. It’s amazing.
Donut places? In the Twin Cities, Mel-O-Glaze and Granny Donuts. Just found a great place in Columbus, Ohio when I was there to visit (Buckeye Donuts, maybe?).
Josh
posted by Josh on 5-8-2009 at 5:30 pm
I object to the notion on the Salvation Army page that donuts were “unknown” in the US before WWI. That’s just ridiculous.
Maybe round donuts with a hole in the middle were “unknown”, but I’m fairly certain that the twisted stick kind wasn’t unfamiliar.
Either way, I will concede that, perhaps, the Salvation Army helped to make donuts more popular – but I don’t think that they introduced them.
posted by Anne on 8-19-2009 at 8:02 am