Doughnut: A Global History (Edible)

The title, "Doughnut, a Global History" sounds like the title of a comedy skit, but the doughnut does have a history. Hunwick's short book is nicely written and excellently illustrated. The definition is something of a problem, but this author says that deep frying is essential to the doughnut process as is forming, not pouring. Sweetness, a category many morning doughnut lovers would think of, is not required; there's a doughnut in India made with ground chickpea flour and there's a meat-filled doughnut in Finland. I think a reader might have other definitions and perhaps might start with the 20th century doughnut in its commercial form, with hot coffee--Hunwick does consider that at length, but using her definition there's a global cuisine out there.Her first chapter is "Doughnut Defined," concerned with just what the thing is. Chapter 2 considers the "Historical Doughnut." Chapter 3 discusses the" American Doughnut," which I think is the most interesting chapter. Chapter 4 is the" Imperial Doughnut," which refers to the march worldwide of American style doughnuts from vendors such as Krispy Kreme (so it's a sort of marketplace imperialism). Chapter 5 examines the "Cultural Doughnut" which includes the doughnut in film, children's books, art (think pop art)--the doughnut has become a symbol of the workaday morning.Among the nuggets of information about doughnuts are these. The historical doughnut is essentially a fried dough food. The first use of the word doughnut (or the alternative donut) goes back at least two centuries, and was mentioned in a Washington Irving story from 1809. The origin could be French, Spanish or Dutch (the American reader will note that cuisine from all these came over with their colonists). A key figure in the modern doughnut was Adolph Levitt, who invented a doughnut machine in 1900 (which formed and cooked them much faster). US doughnut consumption was 4 billion in 1939. Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme are part of the story this book tells. There's also a slight nationalist tinge; the author says that Canada's Tim Hortons franchises sell 80% of the doughnuts in Canada.The book has an appendix of about 20 pages of doughnut recipes; the devoutly doughnuttish might think the book is worth it for that alone.

A fascinating read of the doughnut journey throughout the ages and across the globe.The wonderful illustrations and recipe collection make this book a must read for any doughnut lover .