We Have New York City To Thank For The Doughnut

Tracing the origin of a dish is rarely a simple task, especially since scientists are constantly uncovering new discoveries about ancient dining rituals. As we know from recent excavations of prehistoric caves in modern-day Greece and Iraq, for example, neanderthals were dining on ground beans, lentils, and peas long before historians had previously thought. Likewise, a 2012 study shared by National Geographic revealed that people in Peru may have been eating popcorn nearly 2,000 years before previous findings suggested. 

The history of the doughnut is equally mystifying, although it's safe to say it wasn't a staple of the Stone Age. Depending on who you ask and where you are in the world, you might get a variety of answers on the exact genesis of the fried treat. For the sake of simplicity, we'll set our sights on New York City, where concrete evidence of early doughnut activity dates back to the 17th century.

Like so many dishes we think of as classically American (such as apple pie, which may have its origins in 17th century England, per Atlas Obscura), the doughnut came to the U.S. by way of immigrants from distant shores. According to Thrillist, the earliest known doughnut shop popped up on New York City's Broadway in 1673, just 50 years after the city was founded, run by Mrs. Anna Joralemon of Denmark. The golden age of doughnuts didn't truly begin until a couple of centuries later, which may or may not have to do with the fact that Mrs. Joralemon's fried treats were billed as "olykoeks," or "oily cakes," per Smithsonian Magazine.

According to Smithsonian, the food's more appetizing moniker is credited to the mother of a mid-19th century ship captain, who added nutmeg and cinnamon from her son's spice cargo to her signature dough, stuck a walnut or hazelnut in the center, and fried it to golden perfection, allegedly giving way to the word. As far as official records go, however, Thrillist says Washington Irving's 1809 "History of New York" was the first book to ever include the words "dough nut."

Capitalizing on New Yorkers' newfound love of the fried treat, a refugee from czarist Russia was the first to introduce a doughnut machine to the city in 1920. "Hungry theater crowds pushed him to make a gadget that churned out the tasty rings faster," says Smithsonian. This really changed the game for the sugary confection, and soon doughnuts were ushered into the canon of iconic Empire State treats. In fact, when immigrants arrived on Ellis Island in 1921, they were each given a doughnut and a blanket as a welcome gift. A photo shared by New York 1920s shows Immigration Commissioner Frederick Wallis handing doughnuts to fresh-off-the-boat newcomers alongside the Salvation Army.

Immigrants arriving at the New York Harbor decades later were given the same treat. "I remember the first time I'd ever had a donut," recalled Hershel Greenblat, who came to the island as a child in the 1940s by way of the Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic. "I remember the donuts."