Food History: Donuts

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  • Опубліковано 24 лют 2022
  • The history of donuts is difficult to trace. Did donut history begin the first time a sweet dough was fried in oil? Does it start when the first hole was punched into a yeasted dough before frying? And what do oil balls have to do with it?
    Donuts (or doughnuts, if you like) are, at once, a delicious confluence of international fried dough traditions and a distinctly American confection. In this video, you'll learn where donuts come from (to the best knowledge of the historical record) and how Donut Lassies came about during World War I.
    Food History is a series from Mental Floss where we dive deep into the culinary stories that lead to the food on our plates. If you have an idea for a dish, cooking technique, or cuisine that you’d like us to explore in a future episode, tell us in the comments.

КОМЕНТАРІ • 94

  • @Apophis324
    @Apophis324 2 роки тому +21

    Woot, nice to learn us Dutch are responsible (possibly, in part) for the eventual creation of the doughnuts! Just a side note, "oliebollen" would more closely translate to "oil spheres" than balls.

  • @HayTatsuko
    @HayTatsuko 2 роки тому +6

    Mr. Dodd, that shirt sent me straight back to the 1990s
    and I loved every moment of it.
    Falling down the donut hole this way was a pretty sweet trip!

  • @witchypoo7353
    @witchypoo7353 2 роки тому +5

    His sweater is amazing

  • @VikingTeddy
    @VikingTeddy 2 роки тому +10

    Oh man, oliebollen are my weakness. Living in the Netherlands as a kid, I'd spend all my allowance on them. Literally just a lump of dough dunked in boiling oil and then rolled in sugar, a fistfull of heaven. Good thing I was an active kid, otherwise I'd have had a coronary at 10 years old!

  • @slipinoy
    @slipinoy Рік тому +1

    Been stuck on the east coast for the past 6 years and dear god do I miss the Asian donut shops back home.
    Every other weekend I'd head over to Redondo Beach real early in the morning and grab a dozen before I went fishing. The super brisk air with a hot coffee and some donuts, no better feeling in life.

  • @jliller
    @jliller 2 роки тому +3

    Dunkin used to be a donut shop that also sold coffee.
    Nowadays its a coffee shop that sometimes offers a small section of donuts.

  • @mike79patton
    @mike79patton Рік тому +2

    The glazed cronut is the pinnacle of the donut pyramid.

  • @BioniclesaurKing4t2
    @BioniclesaurKing4t2 2 роки тому +1

    I did a middle school project on the history of doughnuts (and love them more than my family some of the time) and am just here comparing notes. I've heard a lot of these stories, but my favorite is a ship's captain needed a place to put their doughy snack during rough seas, so he skewered it on a spoke of the ship's wheel: boom, hole.

  • @mizusenshi8172
    @mizusenshi8172 2 роки тому +3

    I live in SoCal and have noticed that a lot of small donut shops around here are owned by Asian people. Now I know why!
    Also, as someone whose great-grandparents worked for the Salvation Army, I do also appreciate acknowledging their role in popularizong donuts!

  • @jlarnold24
    @jlarnold24 2 роки тому +5

    ✨ Commenting in support of the wonderful sweater and gorgeous blue nails 💅 ✨

  • @Eric_D_6
    @Eric_D_6 2 роки тому +2

    There's one major problem with this video. It didn't magically teleport a donut into my hand. That's it, no other problems.

  • @darthszarych5588
    @darthszarych5588 2 роки тому +8

    I'm Polish American and we eat pączki (which are like the Polish version of jelly donuts) right before lent on pączki day.

  • @jphilb
    @jphilb 2 роки тому +3

    I prefer cake donuts.
    One of my favorite shops is Voodoo Donuts. Not just in Portland anymore.

  • @Alverant
    @Alverant 2 роки тому +2

    All together now, "UMMMMMM Donuts...."

  • @sergedotcom
    @sergedotcom 2 роки тому +3

    Can confirm live in LA, local donuts are a thousand times better than any competitors.

    • @luisreyes1963
      @luisreyes1963 2 місяці тому

      How as a Chicagoan, I am envious. 😦

    • @sergedotcom
      @sergedotcom 2 місяці тому

      @@luisreyes1963 lol i live in DC now, LA still has best donuts lol

  • @katnip266
    @katnip266 2 роки тому +4

    If I were to film this, I'd probably botch the ending shot just to be able to eat more donuts.

    • @MentalFloss
      @MentalFloss  2 роки тому +3

      LOL I believe there were at least 2 takes. "You know, to give us options in the edit."

    • @mattyt1961
      @mattyt1961 2 роки тому

      @@MentalFloss only 2? or is the the number of dozens used in making this video :)

  • @DannyMcHugh
    @DannyMcHugh 2 роки тому +5

    Wish you would have gone into the differences/origins of yeast-risen vs cake vs filled donuts. But great video!

  • @JimFortune
    @JimFortune 2 роки тому +10

    I'm surprised you didn't even mention the theory that the word "doughnut" came from "dough naught", or a dough zero.

    • @gexianhen
      @gexianhen Рік тому

      i just asume the name was for the shape of a metal Nut ( like nut and bolts) who should have been comon to worker class people at the time

  • @WillMiall
    @WillMiall 2 роки тому +2

    As amazing as this is, I can't get off the phone from the 90s wanting your jumper back 😂 fair play for rocking it my dude! Great and interesting video too in all seriousness 👌🏻

  • @mattyt1961
    @mattyt1961 2 роки тому +1

    So next week, we are bouncing here and there and everywhere.... fantastic :)

  • @sparklyyredshoes
    @sparklyyredshoes 2 роки тому +4

    Cool!
    A bit disappointed you didn’t mention Polish pączki though…

  • @borchmore9
    @borchmore9 2 роки тому +3

    You should do a buffet episode.

  • @rougeneon1997
    @rougeneon1997 2 роки тому +1

    LOVE the sweater. Killer drip bruhv!!!!!!!!!

  • @rickseiden1
    @rickseiden1 2 роки тому +2

    Didn't Bob Saget wear that sweater in Full House?

  • @Kingfishertim24
    @Kingfishertim24 2 роки тому +1

    Bless you, Hansen

  • @meljudd9286
    @meljudd9286 2 роки тому

    Very entertaining watch while enjoying coffee and a doughnut 👩🏻‍⚕️

  • @Zeyev
    @Zeyev 2 роки тому +1

    All that and you didn't mention the alleged connection between donuts and the police?
    One morning on the Metro to my job in Northern Virginia, the train operator noticed a donut truck that had broken down on the adjacent freeway. He pointed out the truck and then jokingly remarked to the entire train that the police would soon surround it. It's what passes for humor early in the morning.

  • @Meganedere
    @Meganedere 2 роки тому +1

    I always assumed their name was originally dough-noughts as in zeros made of dough. Accents shifting made the nought sound like nut and thus doughnut.

  • @yelloweyeball
    @yelloweyeball 2 роки тому

    Mermaid man/Patrick:"Doughnuts!!!"

  • @notyourlod
    @notyourlod 2 роки тому

    I haven't watched Mental Floss in a while and I clicked on this thumbnail because I legit thought that was Tomska for a hot minute.

  • @Marjorie_Fisher
    @Marjorie_Fisher 2 роки тому +2

    If you haven't already, read the amazon reviews for the sugar free haribo gummy bears. They are hilarious.

  • @agcons
    @agcons 2 роки тому

    In Quebec and eastern Ontario we have "pets de soeur", or nun's farts, but they're a rich butter pastry spread with brown sugar and cinnamon then rolled and baked.

  • @calebash82
    @calebash82 2 роки тому

    Anyone else dilate with excitement at the sound of balls of dough fried in pork fat?😳🤤👌

  • @htxmatt
    @htxmatt 2 роки тому

    I'm an hour and a half away from that sweeties donuts place at 3:48... obviously there are a ton of donut shops between me and there, but it would be cool to go.

  • @delusionnnnn
    @delusionnnnn 2 роки тому

    Gummi Bears: Cover with vanilla vodka, refrigerate for a week, they're wonderful. You'll probably have to add more as time goes on. They're wonderful. Try other liquors. Refrigeration is not optional, or they'll just congeal.

  • @AlbertKamut
    @AlbertKamut 2 роки тому +1

    I very much like the colour of your nail polish. Would you share the brand and the colour with me?

  • @alhypo
    @alhypo 2 роки тому

    Am I the only one who thinks the original fried dough balls with the uncooked batter inside sounds delicious?

  • @swschilke
    @swschilke 2 роки тому

    Do Bagels next please 🙏

  • @deboralee1623
    @deboralee1623 Рік тому

    me, passing by a local bakery and reading its sign out loud (to the annoyance of my parents):
    Donuts cakes pies? with the first word pronounced "doo nuts".
    no wonder my parents hated me.
    🍩🍩🎂🎂🥧🥧?

  • @wissammoussaoui8535
    @wissammoussaoui8535 2 роки тому +1

    In France the alternative would be beignets.... I personally never heard of fart nuts 🤣

    • @AsplundhFamily
      @AsplundhFamily 2 роки тому

      I can't say for France, but in French Canada "pets de soeur" (sister farts) are a type of dessert. They're not fried, they're baked, and I'd liken it to a brown sugar cinnamon bun.

    • @wissammoussaoui8535
      @wissammoussaoui8535 2 роки тому

      @@AsplundhFamily I'll check this on UA-cam maybe I'll do it for afternoon coffee 😍

    • @jphilb
      @jphilb 2 роки тому +1

      New Orleans and Cafe du Monde. Love it.

  • @victortran6554
    @victortran6554 2 роки тому

    What online sites did you get the historical information of donuts?

    • @MentalFloss
      @MentalFloss  2 роки тому

      Here's an incomplete bibliography: www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/maine-ship-captain-invented-modern-donut/
      jewishfoodexperience.com/on-the-doughnut-trail/
      food52.com/blog/10133-the-history-of-donuts-in-america
      www.thespruceeats.com/the-history-of-doughnuts-1328766
      www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Sugar_and_Sweets/XPNgBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22at+one+camp+near+reims,+as+reported+by+the+new+york+times%22&pg=PT418&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=%22at%20one%20camp%20near%20reims%2C%20as%20reported%20by%20the%20new%20york%20times%22&f=false
      www.etymonline.com/word/doughnut
      www.npd.com/news/press-releases/2020/lots-of-donut-shops-in-u-s-but-consumers-visit-them-more-for-the-coffee-than-the-donuts/

  • @tymime
    @tymime 2 роки тому +1

    Who first glazed or sprinkled sugar on a donut?

  • @inkynewt
    @inkynewt 2 роки тому

    The elusive blue gummy bear is the best

  • @marksusskind1260
    @marksusskind1260 2 роки тому

    i was thinking donuts look like that because we made long doughy cylinders then joined the ends together

  • @deboralee1623
    @deboralee1623 Рік тому

    "...that they brought home with them." (5:09-5:12)
    i bet that wasn't all the soldiers brought home with them.

  • @edwardemahy
    @edwardemahy 2 роки тому +1

    What about beignets

  • @epistax4
    @epistax4 2 роки тому +1

    I'm having a hard time hearing you over that shirt. Where can I get one?

  • @MrGTalso
    @MrGTalso 2 роки тому

    Now we living better now, Coogi sweat now

  • @daddydanknugs
    @daddydanknugs Рік тому

    So, given it's questionable origins, one could argue that you can not disprove that it was in fact Chuck Norris that invented donuts.

  • @wgrandbois
    @wgrandbois 2 роки тому

    You made a doughnut video the week before Mardi Gras and didn't mention pączki?

  • @TRUTHTEACHER2007
    @TRUTHTEACHER2007 2 роки тому

    Most likely not nut, but naught, which is an old word for zero. Makes sense, dough zero/dough naught,
    became condensed and shortened to donut.

  • @DeaconTaylor
    @DeaconTaylor 2 роки тому

    what about taking the name from the other nut? as in nuts and bolts. same shape.

  • @scottydog1313
    @scottydog1313 2 роки тому +1

    No mention of Krispy Kreme"? Really? They kick Dunkin's ass, and I grew up on DD.

    • @RandallHayter
      @RandallHayter 2 роки тому

      It is an odd omission given the topic. Maybe there’s a Dunkin on Justin’s block, but no Kristen Kreme?

    • @SpaceBandit666
      @SpaceBandit666 2 роки тому

      I wonder if its because there are more Christy’s chains than Krispys vs Dunkin

  • @premier69
    @premier69 2 роки тому

    only an american would ever see a donut as food.

  • @Philalan09
    @Philalan09 2 роки тому +2

    Is dudes with nail polish a trend rn? Seen it a bunch lately

  • @graphosxp
    @graphosxp 2 роки тому +1

    The hole in the donut was invented as a teaching tool to educate Dutch children on the proper technique to plug a breaking dike with a finger.

  • @alexwixom4599
    @alexwixom4599 2 роки тому +1

    I have a saying "Every Doughnut has a hole", a reflection on how we are all the same, no matter what form we take.
    I'm a staunch supporter of Doughnut over Donut. Also, they need to be made by hand, robots make doughnut without love, they are incapable of it, and that's the secret ingredient!

  • @Kiyantha
    @Kiyantha 2 роки тому

    w

  • @rickainsley904
    @rickainsley904 2 роки тому

    𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙢

  • @I.____.....__...__
    @I.____.....__...__ 2 роки тому

    2:40 The name is literally "dough naughts", as in O's, like in naughts-and-crosses. 🤦

  • @pstewart9012
    @pstewart9012 11 місяців тому

    ORIGIN 🕊💗FRY BREAD = Aboriginal 🕊💗STAPLE here on The Island🌳🌳🌳

  • @MagdaleneDivine
    @MagdaleneDivine 2 роки тому +1

    Especially since I have to use closed captioning as i can't hear over the tinnitus in my ears. So I'm forced to see that fugly ass color

  • @brianfoley4328
    @brianfoley4328 2 роки тому

    Whoa, there fella...are you saying that the Bible says Krispy Kremes are acceptable offering to God ? I am a Holy Man, a High Priest as it were.

  • @JM-is5nx
    @JM-is5nx 2 місяці тому

    What kind of man paints his nails? 🤦🏾‍♂️

  • @davidellis251
    @davidellis251 2 роки тому

    Inuits have been making donuts before the colonizers got here. And Indians make fry bread. With a hole always in the center.

  • @Zefram0911
    @Zefram0911 2 роки тому +2

    that is one ugly sweater.

  • @Kenkire
    @Kenkire 2 роки тому +1

    Gummy bears are gross and all taste the same

  • @MagdaleneDivine
    @MagdaleneDivine 2 роки тому +2

    Why would someone wear that sweater publically

    • @Apophis324
      @Apophis324 2 роки тому +3

      Hey, I think his sweater is cool! Somehow reminds me of classic television :P

    • @LemurJackson
      @LemurJackson 2 роки тому

      If you can’t get a $300 Coogie I guess it’s close enough, I’m not a fan of how he is wearing it but it’s alright.

    • @MagdaleneDivine
      @MagdaleneDivine 2 роки тому +1

      @@LemurJackson if anyone ever pays $300 for something that ugky they need to be shot on sight.
      Just because it has an expensive price tag doesnt make something less ugjy. It just makes you lol like an idiot who deserves to be ripped off.

    • @RavenclawSeer
      @RavenclawSeer 2 роки тому

      Looks straight out of the 70s funky pattern.

    • @kilgirlietrout
      @kilgirlietrout 2 роки тому

      It's got hard core Cosby vibes and nobody should want to give off Cosby vibes.

  • @jannetteberends8730
    @jannetteberends8730 2 роки тому

    Don’t like them. And I don’t like oliebollen.