The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT DOUGHNUTS
THE ORIGIN OF DOUGHNUTS
The Dutch brought doughnuts with them to the New World. They called them olykoeks, which meant — not surprisingly — “oily cakes.”
THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME
American author Washington Irving is credited for making the first written reference to doughnuts. He wrote about “balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts or olykoeks.”
A DOUGHBOY FAVORITE
Doughnuts became a big thing during World War I, when Salvation Army volunteers brought U.S. soldiers in the trenches of France doughnuts and coffee to cheer them up and to remind them of home.
HITTING THE BIG-TIME
At the 1933 Chicago World's Fair — slogan: “A Century of Progress” — doughnuts were named the “Hit Food of the Century.”
THEY CALL THEM WHAT?
French dough fritters — slightly different from the circular doughnuts preferred in America — are called “pets de nonne.” Which means “nun's farts.”
FLAVORS YOU MIGHT WANT TO AVOID
Voodoo Doughnut in Portland — renowned for its far-out doughnut flavors — once offered doughnuts dipped in NyQuil. They also sold doughnuts dipped in Pepto Bismol and sprinked with Tums, aimed at customers who had too much to drink. This little brainstorm was eventually shut down by the FDA.
DUNKIN’ LESSONS
In the 1934 Frank Capra comedy “It Happened One Night,” Clark Gable's character finds himself horrified at the way Claudette Colbert lets her doughnut linger in her morning coffee. So he gives her a lesson: “Dunking is an art,” Gable's character says. “Don't let it
HOMER’S FAVORITE
In a 1994 “Treehouse of Horror” episode of “The Simpsons,” Homer uses time travel to go back and make his family rich and happy. But when he discovers his wife, Marge, doesn't know what a doughnut is, he goes back again to undo his changes. soak so long. A dip and — plop, into your mouth. If you let it soak so long, it'll get soft and fall off.” “It's all a matter of timing, he says after demonstrating. “I ought to write a book about it.”