Dining: The Delights of Doughnuts

It was just an overnight stopover at Frankfurt and also my first day in Germany. A long evening stroll in the beautifully structured city left me famished and I peeped into a small roadside eatery, still unable to figure out what would be ideal for a quick bite. It was then that my eyes fell on the tray stacked with doughnuts.‘Can I have two doughnuts please?’ I took out five euros and asked the man behind the counter.
He gave a confused look and politely enquired, ‘You want what?’ ‘Doughnut’, I emphasised and pointed towards the tray. ‘You mean kreppel’, he said and slipped them in the packet while handing it over with a grin. I smiled back too, much in awe in the land of kreppels. Immensely intrigued by the newly learnt name of doughnuts, I went back to the hotel and gave a quick Google search to know more about its other names. And in a click information poured in. ‘If you are in Germany, call it kreppel when in Frankfurt, krapfen in the South, a Berliner in West Germany, and pfannkuchen if you are in proper Berlin. Russians call it pishki, and in Rome they call it globi’.
There were few more names in the list that I didn’t read. Sugar-dusted and filled with plum jelly, or with chocolate, lemon, and vanilla, variations on these ring shaped fried desserts with holes in their centres, even included toppings. It was becoming clear to me that no matter what it was called, the sweet made out of yeasted dough, deep-fried, and at times stuffed, was universal in its appeal. Thus began my journey into the delicious world of doughnuts. While the base of doughnuts remain the same almost everywhere, they are made with different fillings like creams, butter and fruit jams, and nuts and either frosted or dussted in powdered sugar. Pishki, the traditional doughnut in Russia, is fried in lots of butter, and sprinkled with icing sugar. It is mostly eaten piping hot. The Berliner, on the other hand is made from sweet yeast dough and can be round and oblong and filled with plum or strawberry jam. The speciality of Berliners is that most often they are glazed in sugar syrup.
While doughnuts are a hot favourite in Germany and other European countries some theories state that they were invented in North America by Dutch settlers. It is also theorized that Hanson Gregory, an American, invented doughnuts way back in 1847 and the hole in the centre of the dough was actually his brainchild. No matter their origins, the sweet dough has now traversed the world. Here in Muscat, you can grab this sweet treat in several eateries and cafes. While the American franchise Dunkin Donuts have many outlets, for speciality doughnuts, try the treats at the Candadian chain, Tim Hortons, located at Muscat Grand Mall, or try home-made versions at Reflexions Café in Qurum.
If you are a true doughnut fan, then why not make them at home? The baked version is an ideal option for those who are calorie conscious. All you need to do is to bake the dough at 200 degree C for ten minutes instead of frying. Or go for the classic, melt-in-your-mouth, sugar dusted fried confection. Eitherway, your home will smell amazing long after you eat them.
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