By Adrija Sen
‘Donut’ comes from the name ‘doughnut’ of course, but how that name came to be remains a mystery still. Researchers have suggested the name refers to the nuts placed inside the ball of dough to compensate for an uncooked centre.
Image source: Adobe
The Dutch were the first ones to introduce the modern doughnut to North America in the mid-19th century, or that is the most accepted origin we know of yet. In the form of ‘olykoeks,’ or ‘oil cakes,’ these early ancestors of doughnuts were cake balls fried in pork fat.
Image source: Adobe
The exact origin of the doughnut is still unknown. Various versions are present across different nationalities and cultures. According to some historians, there is even a type of doughnut mentioned in The Bible!
Image Source: Adobe
More than 10 billion doughnuts are eaten every year in the United States! You can get anything from your normal everyday flavours like chocolate and glazed, to some pretty unique ones like Wasabi, Champagne and Bubble Gum.
Image Source: Adobe
The “Wonderful Almost Human Automatic Donut Machine'' was a contraption built by Russian-born immigrant Adolph Levitt in 1920. It was the first automated doughnut machine in the world.
Image Source: Adobe
In a famous story, an American ship captain is credited with inventing the classic hole in the doughnut when he apparently pierced the middle of the doughnut on the ship’s steering wheel, so that he could use both hands to steer.
Image Source: Adobe
The largest doughnut in the world was a jelly doughnut made in New York on January 21, 1993. It weighed 1,700 kg!
Image Source: Adobe
The most expensive doughnuts were sold for $100 (about ₹7,700) a piece. They were made with 24k edible gold, edible diamonds, and aged chocolate balsamic vinegar. And the rest of the ingredients and recipes? They were kept top secret!
Image Source: Adobe
Actor Renee Zellweger who played Bridget Jones has said she ate 20 doughnuts a day to gain weight to fit the part within a few months. This makes sense because a glazed doughnut is about 240 calories, of which 120 is fat. So If a person was to eat a doughnut daily, they would gain an extra pound every 10 days.
Image Source: Adobe
An interesting economic theory is that according to some researchers, the size of the hole inside the doughnut tends to correlate with how the economy is doing at that time. Predictably, the worse the economy, the larger the hole in the doughnut.
Image Source: Adobe