The Fried Dough Ho

It is somewhat of an odd obsession, being the Fried Dough Ho, to find humorous doughnut bits now being forwarded to me from friends and readers. And it is my sincerest plan to ultimately share each and every one over time. I’ll admit to having been a Muppet Show fan in my youth. I liked the crazy old guys in the balcony, Statler and Waldorf. I had a Rowlf The Dog hand-puppet. And everybody liked Kermit.

And then there is Swedish Chef. For those who don’t know, he was designed by the Muppet factory as a parody of televisions chefs (long before there were celebrity chefs). Much of the humor lies in the fact that his vision is almost completely obscured by his bushy eyebrows and toque blanche. Unlike most other Muppets, you can actually see human hands protruding from the character’s costume. How else to handle actual cooking implements?

The other hilarious part for me is Chef’s song, which he sings at the beginning of each episode. Mostly incomprehensible, Swedish-sounding gibberish, the song is never quite the same but always finishes out with the barks of “Börk, börk, börk!” before the Chef flings the utensils aside and starting in on his culinary endeavor. I hope you enjoy today’s offering!

I have been a crafts person for the bulk of my life. As a kid, I used to macrame licorice whips together, using gumdrops as beads, to make bracelets. I have worked in clay and textiles and metal (my somewhat chosen profession). Although now, in the 21st Century, it is no longer called a “crafts culture” but DIY, or Do It Yourself. And among the DIY culture, there are few doughnut-obsessed artists like myself. The photo above is by a knitter named Kat. I like the variable colors and the “jelly” that comes out of the filled doughnut. And she is provides the knitting instructions on how to knit some yourself.

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I was in Vancouver just before the Winter Olympics. I was very fortunate to have gorgeous walking weather and almost an entire day was spent exploring Granville Island, a must-visit destination spot for visitors. I walked for hours, exploring its art studios, boutique shops, waterfront restaurants, and a pretty fabulous fresh food market. And among all the fabulous gourmet goodies, there loomed above me a bright yellow sign which brought a huge smile to me face; Lee’s Donuts.

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I don’t watch a lot of regular television. I admit that I tend to just watch classic movies over and over, but some close friends recommended 30 Rock to me. I know that creator Tina Fey puts a lot of her own personal interests into the nuances of the show (like continual references to Star Wars) so it made sense that her character’s love of food would include doughnuts.

Apparently they are from a Brooklyn bakery known as Peter Pan and she describes them as “powdered sugar on the outside, white cream-filled donut (not to be confused with Bavarian cream).” It seems the cream filling is “very, very white” and “if made correctly, makes you blind.” Sounds like I need to hit up a special spot in Brooklyn when next I visit New York!

This is sort of a Part II report of Michael Chiarello’s restaurant Bottega in Yountville. Part I was from the same meal, but was a Savory Offering of Fried Dough. It was actually sort of funny. My darling hosts and I had finished our meal over a serving of assorted biscotti when we saw an adjacent table being served a sweet version of Fried Dough and as I had been showing them my newly-created website, Ron called out to the waiter and ordered the additional dessert. Wow – I was really touched. I mean, we had just finished dinner AND a pretty decent dessert, but Ron insisted; The Fried Dough Ho needed a complete report!

Here, we are eating a classic dessert presentation, inch-long warm fried dough rolled in granulated sugar and served with two sauces, a lemon curd and a raspberry jam. How much better can it get for a die-hard Fried Dough Ho to have two different servings in one spectacular meal? My only complaint about the doughnuts was the predominant use of a large-granule sugar which hardened to a point of flaking off in large sheets when the doughnut was bit; that meant there was a significant amount of grease still on the doughnuts when rolled in the sugar. One had to bite through large sections of sugar. This could have been rectified by rolling the freshly-dried balls in less sugar or possibly sugar that is more refined. Don’t get me wrong, they tasted great, but the sugar “sheets” did not adhere to the doughnuts when bit into but chunked off in the mouth.

The accompanying sauces were quite lovely and well-made as well. I am curious why two sauces would be offered but one in more quantity than the other? I suppose the obvious answer is that they are supposed to go with the curd more with the raspberry being an after garnish, but being a raspberry fan, I actually preferred that sauce over the curd, but the combination of the two was really exquisite. What a fabulous evening it was, having two Fried Doughs in one meal!