The significance of doughnuts

250 millions doughnuts will be consumed today in Poland - in the face of national fitness obsession

Few things say as much about our culture as the food we eat.

In the last decade, a new wave of moralising about food has given rise to a sugar and trans-fat hysteria, and doughnut has become a symbol of temptation and unhealthiness.

But during Fat Thursday, prior to Lent and ahead of Easter, while bakeries and makers of digestive pills record highest sales in year, most Poles indulge in a fat, deep-fried dough filled with jam and topped with icing.

But why have doughnuts become such an enduring cultural icon?

We trace the beginning of the modern doughnut to Poland to the early 16th century.

“It’s no accident that we feel pleasure when consuming calories. We have an evolutionary drive to seek them out, and pleasure is our guidepost. The doughnut is “engineered to deliver the maximum amount of pleasure,” Stanley Ulijaszek, a professor of anthropology from the University of Oxford told Newsweek.

Donut worry, be happy

The most traditional polish “pączki” are filled with rose flavoured jam. New varieties exist — gluten-free, vegan, with reduced fat — catering to the new health-conscious market.

Doughnut in Poland is the staple of mom-and-pop establishments rather than chain doughnut shops. The American ‘Dunkin' Donuts’ withdrew from Poland in 2018 only after 3 years. This was the brand’s second unsuccessful attempt to enter the Polish market. (The chain first entered in 1996 to withdrew in 2002).

Over the past decades, the traditional doughnuts have survived onslaughts from both modern chains and other competing foods like French pastry and carrot cake or banana bread.

Yet, and despite the most damaging attacks from dieting industry, doughnuts still hold strong.

Although modern villains — they become heroes, if just for one day.