Paula Kraft, President of Atlanta, GA-based Tastefully Yours Catering and founder of Aviation Catering Consultants.
The Gourmet Donut

Bakeries and restaurants who prepare them have lines of customers form around the building and down the street to have the chance to purchase one of these delicacies before they are sold out. Reminds me of a recent visit to Paris and the line to purchase those delightful, crisp yet melt in your mouth macaroons. You can read about them on line, get a tweet about the flavors of the day and the descending count of what is left all on your cell phone. Are we crazy or what?

Watch out world - the donut is being reinvented and headed your way

You ask, how I know about such things? Well, today we had a very popular movie star/celebrity pass through town with a request that we pick up some of these little bits of heaven (you could also say gold as they were as pricy as my gourmet coffee). We began this endeavor like all other special requests with a phone call and we were greeted by a recording rather than a live human stating that we needed to get on twitter to see what was the daily special and what was still left. I panicked! What was still left? You mean to tell me they had a limited number of these things? They couldn’t possibly sell out until I got a driver to the bakery to buy these special donuts for our passenger. I re-routed deliveries, shifted drivers in different directions so we could get in line and quick! Twitter was telling me the numbers were falling fast. I had to get the bacon donut and the cake donut with cinnamon and orange. It felt like Christmas and I had to get the last toy for my child or else . . . Success! bacon donut in hand, cinnamon orange donut in hand and the coveted espresso candy crusted donut dusted with sea salt in hand. We are officially a hero! Are donuts just an American thing or are they global? I did a little research and found that donuts are indeed global.

A donut, no matter where in the world, is generally prepared about the same with similar ingredients, but essentially they are little pieces of deep fried dough, some round, some square, some twisted and some resemble a pillow. The doughnut is often sprinkled with sugar or other toppings, and may be frosted or glazed .. Associated in some nations with breakfast, the doughnut is generally agreed to be a sweet and delicious indulgence. So here is some trivia about donuts to prepare you as your world travelling passengers and flight crew start to request the reinvented donut.

Donuts and other fried pastries have been around for centuries, and are popular treats in many countries. It is suspected that the doughnut originated from leftover scraps of dough which needed to be used up. Early doughnuts were often made with fillings of fruit or sweets.

There are two main types of donuts - Yeast donuts and cake donuts. The yeast donut is thought to have started with leftover baking scraps, and tends to be lighter and fluffier with a distinctive yeasty flavor. Yeast doughnuts are sometimes baked, as many currently think baking is healthier than deep frying. Cake doughnuts are heavier, with a denser cake-like texture to them. Those known as "old fashioned” doughnuts are usually cake doughnuts, most generally round or square. When cooked properly, the doughnut will retain a round shape and a crisp exterior.

So what are some of the different names you might hear someone call a donut?

Okinawans calls their donuts Sata andagi. In my love for trivia, let me share this with you. Sata andagi means “sugar, fried in oil.” Yum? Sata andagi have a texture similar to very dense cake, and are quite dry. Its nearest Western counterpart is the fried doughnut commonly called a fritter. Sata andagi are usually not very sweet. They eaten either warm or cooled to room temperature.

Kreple is a type of doughnut which has origins in the Polish recipe for Silesia. These types of Silesian doughnuts are also popular throughout Germany and are made in the same shape as the German-style doughnut known as a Berliner. Kreple is a favorite pre-Lenten dessert because it uses up the sweet ingredients that are not permitted during the time of religious observance. Kreple doughnuts usually have no hole and are stuffed with a fruit filling, a custard, or topped with a sweet icing.

A Sopaipilla generally associated with North, Central and South America is a piece of fried dough that is sweetened with honey. Sopaipillas are often referred to as “little pillows” because of their puffed appearance after frying. They are closely related to other pastries made of fried dough, bunuelos and churros (twisted dough). Sopaipillas traditionally are served warm, and are often sweetened with honey or sugar. They also are commonly made savory by adding a stuffing of meat, beans or vegetables, similar to a taco or an enchilada. Sopaipillas are also often served as a substitute for bread or rolls.

In Chile, they are traditionally made with a winter squash, usually zapallo, but pumpkin is also used. The squash is mixed with flour and lard to form the dough, and the finished pastry is often served with an cane sugar syrup flavored with citrus and cinnamon. Chilean sopaipillas are also sometimes served with condiments such as mustard, ketchup, butter, manjar or a pepper sauce known as pebre. They are most commonly eaten at teatime - particularly on cold, rainy days.

In Peru, sopaipillas are called cachangas and are most commonly eaten for breakfast. They are traditionally made with corn flour. This variation is usually larger in size but more thin and crispy than other sopapillas.

In China, the Chinese donut is a ball or cylinder of dough that has been deep fried and then rolled in white, granulated sugar while still warm. Some have fruit or cream fillings, while others are simply sugared dough. A savory version may be filled with meat or beans. The dough itself is not typically sweet. It is supposed to be crispy on the outside, soft inside, and very bready. Its subtle flavor cuts the sweetness, generally keeping the sugar from becoming overwhelming.

Though a Chinese donut is often plain, they may be filled with jellies, creams, or fruit compotes. Jellies and fruits may range from strawberries and Asian pears to raisins, currants, or blueberries or lychee. The creams are usually vanilla or chocolate, though peanut butter is sometimes also available. Peanut oil is the frying oil of choice for Chinese donuts which will cause allergic reactions to those allergic to peanuts even though nuts are not visible.

Fry Jacks are a staple in Belizean cuisine: delicious golden and crumbly fried dough. Plantain and mango types are favored most. They are very similar to the New Orleans beignet, and to Latin American sopapillas, which are made with flour tortillas, and often topped with cinnamon, honey and whipped cream. Sometimes the fry jack is called the beignet without the powdered sugar, since they are typically topped with either honey or jam, or served as a breakfast food with savory accompaniments like beans, bacon and eggs . . . Beignets are almost always served with powdered sugar, but fry jacks are usually split into two categories: those topped with jam or honey, and those topped with refried beans. In this way, the fry jack is much more like the sopapilla, which may also not be served a dessert, but as part of an entrée.

Lokma is the Turkish name for bite-sized, fried balls of dough, dipped in cinnamon sugar or sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon; cloves and cinnamon in the dough are common, and occasionally even chopped pieces of Turkish Delight.

This type of treat is popular in numerous Mediterranean countries, though each country has its own variation on how the dish is made and served. There are some differences in recipes for lokma. One principal difference between the Turkish and a Greek version, and the sfinge or zeppola made in Italy, is that the dough made for this dish tends to use yeast. Zeppole doesn’t require use yeast, and is usually filled with sweetened ricotta cheese, jam, or custard.

The Greek version of the dessert, loukoumades, is served somewhat differently. Instead of being dipped in cinnamon sugar, loukoumas (plural form) are dipped into honey. You may find lokma made this way in Turkey also. Loukoumas may also be topped with sprinkled nuts, which is not typical of the Turkish version.

And to wind out donut lesson 101, let’s talk Krispy Kreme donuts. This is an American icon. A breed of donut all unto itself. The brand has followers; people use the donuts for everything from wedding cakes to hamburger buns. You heard it, yes a bun made out of 2 donuts to be filled with a hamburger and all the toppings, or fried bacon and egg between two of the little delicacies. We regularly have aircraft arrive and place orders for 12 Krispy Kreme’s. This bakery has a lighted red sign in the window that reads “hot donuts” and when the light is on, this guarantees you warm, fresh donuts. My sister can’t drive past one of those lighted signs without stopping to buy a hot donut. The

calories aren’t too bad, about 200 per donut, but, the problem is that they are so light and airy, warm and lightly glazed with a vanilla sugar and melt in your mouth flavor that you simply can’t eat just one.

So as the donut trend heads your way, do not be surprised to find savory donut sandwiches, donuts served as the bread with a steak dinner or even as part of a warm bread pudding with a sherry cream sauce dripping off the sides.

Sweet Dreams!

Let me introduce myself . . . 

My name is Paula Kraft and I am founder and President of Tastefully Yours Catering, an aviation specific caterer, located in Atlanta, Georgia for 35 years.

Aviation Catering is a science not taught in Culinary School; it’s a function of experience, experimentation, basic trial and error, with constant feedback from flight crews and clients. It is a two-way communication. It is vital that this information and knowledge be shared throughout the industry. To this end, I have worked as the Chairman of the NBAA Caterer’s Working Group, a subcommittee of the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee, the NBAA Caterer Representative to the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee, for 9 years.

Currently I am an active member of the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee Advisory Board and the NBAA International Flight Attendant Committee, Women in Corporate Aviation, Women in Aviation International, National Association of Catering Executives, International Flight Catering Association, the International Food Service Association and the International Caterer’s Association.

I have coordinated training programs and clinics for NBAA, EBAA and BA-Meetup conference attendees for over 10 years, created mentoring programs for caterers and flight attendants to broaden their aviation culinary skills, and to assist them in adapting to the unique challenges and constraints found in catering for general aviation. I recognize the need for training and have worked closely with flight departments, flight crews, schedulers and customer service reps at the FBOs to ensure that catering specific training provides information and skills necessary to reduce risk while assisting them in their job duties that include safe food handling, catering security, accurate transmission of food orders, and safe food production, packaging and delivery.

I fell into aviation catering quite by accident. I was the in-house caterer and bakery supplier for Macy’s department stores in Atlanta when catering was ordered for a Macy’s customer which was soon to change my life. After the client enjoyed the catering provided, I was summoned to the client’s corporate office to provide several of the items delivered through Macy’s to the executive dining room. Within a week, I was providing food for the flight department and my first order was for the President of a foreign country (as I was too be told soon after). So, here I am, some 35 years later, still loving every minute of every day in aviation catering.

©BlueSky Business Aviation News | 11th October 2012 | Issue #195

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