Were donuts once called Olykoeks?

Origins. While food resembling doughnuts has been found at many ancient sites, the earliest origins to the modern doughnuts are generally traced back to the olykoek (“oil(y) cake ”) Dutch settlers brought with them to early New York (or New Amsterdam).

What do French people call donuts?

The French-style beignet in the United States has the specific meaning of deep-fried choux pastry. Beignets can also be made with yeast pastry, which might be called boules de Berlin in French, referring to Berliner doughnuts, which lack the typical doughnut hole, filled with fruit or jam.

What did Cowboys call doughnuts?

Bear Sign – A cowboy term for donuts made while they were on the range. A cook who could and would make them was highly regarded.

What is the meaning of Olykoek?

olykoek in American English (ˈɑlɪˌkuk) noun. (in the Hudson Valley) old-fashioned. a doughnut .

What language is Olykoek?

Etymology. Dutch oliekoek, from olie oil (from Middle Dutch, from Latin oleum) + koek cake.

What is the origin of the word Olykoek?

Olykoek has its origins in the now-extinct New York dialect of Dutch . Dutch is related to English, therefore it's no surprise that Dutch olie and koek resemble their English cognates oil and cake. Olykoek was first recorded in English at the turn of the 19th century.

What were donuts originally called?

But the doughnut proper (if that's the right word) supposedly came to Manhattan (then still New Amsterdam) under the unappetizing Dutch name of olykoeks--"oily cakes."

What were the first doughnuts called?

The history of the doughnut itself is generally traced to Dutch immigrants in 17th- and 18th-century New York, then New Netherland, who prepared fried dough balls called olie koeken or olykoeks , which means “oil cakes.” They were similar to modern doughnuts, although they did not yet have the iconic ring shape.

olykoek in American English (ˈɑlɪˌkuk) noun. (in the Hudson Valley) old-fashioned. a doughnut .

Oly Koek and Doughty Doughnut recipes | Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow | Washington Irving

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“Such heaped up platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only to experienced Dutch housewives! There was the doughty doughnut, the tender oly koek, and the crisp and crumbling cruller…”

-The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving

An oly koek is a deep-fried ball of dough in hot oil. Brought to America by the Dutch, they are the precursors to the dough-nut, which are also mentioned in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Origins

deep fried dough

The olykoek is the grandpa of the doughnut.

Some recipes in The Sensible Cook suggest that citrus, apples and/or almonds be mixed directly into the dough. However, in The Sensible Cook, a recipe found in Albany, New York provided an additional recipe for olykoekthat folds raisins and dried citrus soaked in brandy, into the middle of the dough. I found this allowed for a more consistent cook through.

Ingredients

When did the olykoek become a doughnut?

Washington Irving captured the olykoek and the dough-nut in another of his books,A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty (1809). It captures the interchangeable use of the terms at the turn of the century. Whether the dough-nut at this time has a hole punched through the middle is unclear.

“Sometimes the table was graced with immense apple-pies, or saucers full of preserved peaches and pears; but it was always sure to boast of an enormous dish of balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog’s fat, and called dough-nuts, or oly koeks: a delicious kind of cake, at present scarce known in this city, excepting in genuine Dutch families.”

Origins

“doughty dough-nut”

The ‘doughty dough nut’ is also mentioned in Sleepy Hollow. To simplify the baking process, we used the same dough, created a ball without the filling and punched a hole through the centre with our finger before frying.

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How to make olykoeks and doughnuts