In Donuts Pt. 1, I expressed the belief that the term "doughnut" derives from the fact that a doughnut is shaped like a round nut (as in nuts and bolts) made of dough. Then we got this email from Charles:
I think you're a bit misinformed about the origin of the name "doughnut." It is named that because when they were first trying to make a doughnut, they found a round disk shape would have a partially cooked centre so they removed a nut of dough from the middle to have a perfectly cooked doughnut. Love the show.
Well Charles, that makes sense from a culinary level, but not from an etymological one. Why would they name the food after the part that was removed, instead of the part that is left, the part you actually eat?
So I did extensive research, by which I mean I Googled it, and it looks like we could both be wrong. Wikipedia says that in 1809, Washington Irving described "balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts." In other words, there was no hole in the center originally, so the name does not derive from the "O" shape. It may be they were named after nuts as in fruit and nuts, as opposed to nuts as in nuts and bolts, but for a different reason than the one Charles cites. Either way, I do suspect that bakers changed the shape to expose more surface to the boiling oil, and thus increase the amount of crispy fried exterior, as Charles suggests. /dan Photo: Flickr CC / Rob Boudon
