Donuts are the perfect way to start every morning. They are sweet and chewy and a fresh baked donut with a cup of coffee is a nice, warm, and easy way to wake up. Donuts come in many varieties like glazed, chocolate, blueberry, cherry, sprinkled, and even jelly or creme filled. But how did donuts come to be? Why do they have a hole in the middle? And when did Krispie Kreme's come around? These were all questions that I had about donuts and I did a little research to find out the answers.
Fried dough has been around for many centuries and could be found in many different countries. In the 19th century the Dutch were known for making olykoeks which means "oil cakes". In order to make these treats the Dutch would take balls of cake and fry them in pork fat. The middle did not get as done as the outside so these olykoeks would often be filled with fruits, nuts, and other fillings. These treats were brought with the Dutch as they immigrated to America and they continued to change and soon became more and more like the modern Donut.
But how did the donut get its famous shape with the hole in the center? This is thanks to an American ship captain named Hansen Gregory. In 1847 Gregory cut a hole in the center of the donuts before cooking them which allowed the oil to touch more of the donut and therefore cook it more evenly.
The name "donut" is a very debated topic. It is thought that the name could have come from the nuts that were put in the center of the dough-"dough-nuts" or it could also be derived from "doughknots", a popular shape of olykeoks.
A History of New York, published by Washington Irving in 1809 is the first written record of the word "doughnut". In the 1900's "doughnut" was shortened to "donut" and today either spelling is used.
In 1920, Adolph Levitt, an immigrant from Russia, created the first automated donut machine and it was featured in the 1934 World's Fair in Chicago. After this the donut became very popular all across America.
now that we know more about the donut, lets see how Krispie Kreme's came to be. A man named Vermon Randolph bought the famous Krispie Kreme secret recipe from a French chef in New Orleans. He then rented a building in North Carolina and began selling donuts to local grocery stores on July 13, 1937. The wonderful smell of these fresh baked pastries would drift through the streets and soon people walking buy would ask if they could buy the donuts. Randolph responded by cutting a hole in the outside wall and he began to sell fresh-baked original glazed donuts to people walking by.
in the 1940's and 1950's Krispie Kreme's was a small chain of stores. They were mostly owned by families, they all used the same recipe, and all the donuts were homemade. Randolph wanted the donuts to be more consistent so he bought a mix plant and started delivering a donut mix to each of the stores. After this Randolph built ,his own donut making machines and he then focused on improving everything.
In the 1960's Krispie Kreme's began to spread all throughout the south east. In 1976 the company was sold to Beatrice Foods Company. In 1982 a small group of Krispie Kreme's early franchisers bought the company back from Beatrice Foods Company and they really focused on the hot donut experience. In 1996 they opened their first store in New York and in 1999 they opened one in California. In 1997 Krispie Kreme's was noted as a 20th century American icon and company artifacts were donated to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
in 2000 Krispie Kreme's opened its first international store around Toronto in Canada, soon followed by the cities of Sydney, Australia and London, England. Krispie Kreme's now also has stores in Mexico, Asia, The Middle East, Puerto Rico, and Turkey.
Donuts will always be a favorite treat and donut chains continue to expand and offer many new flavors and varieties of donuts.
Information from:
http://krispykreme.com/about-us/history
http://foodreference.about.com/od/history_myths/a/The-History-Of-Doughnuts.htm
Picture from:
http://www.alwaysfoodie.com/entry/krispy-kremes-whole-wheat-doughnuts-might-face-competition-from-gluten-free-counterparts/
Every February 2nd we wake up and want to know, did the groundhog see his shadow? If he did we sigh as there will supposedly now be six more weeks of winter and if he didn't we get excited and anticipate an early spring. Isn't it funny that we let a groundhog predict our future weather as if it is trained in meteorology? How did this tradition come to be? I looked online and found out a little more about this holiday.
