# Regional differences in meaning of "doughnut" (donut)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 11, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718 "2020-10-11T15:03:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/61 "2020-10-14T00:51:38Z")
I love churros, but another Latin donut-adjacent food is sopapillas. > **[Sopaipilla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopaipilla)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > A sopaipilla, sopapilla, sopaipa, or cachanga is a kind of fried pastry and a type of quick bread served in several regions with Spanish heritage in the Americas.\[note 1\] The word sopaipilla is the diminutive of sopaipa, a word that entered Spanish from the Mozarabic language of Al-Andalus. The original Mozarabic word Xopaipa was used to mean bread soaked in oil. The word is derived in turn from the Germanic word suppa, which meant bread soaked in... ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/62 "2020-10-14T01:30:47Z")
Are doughnut holes doughnuts? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/63 "2020-10-14T02:00:09Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Ya got yer fried dough; ya got yer sugar outside; ya got yer sweet goopy filling inside. A donut by any other name would spike your blood sugar just the same > > If churros are donuts, then so are funnel cakes. Will the madness ever stop? FTR, I’m not seriously suggesting the US term donut (however spelled) legitimately encompasses churros. I’m just being multiculturally inclusive. Pretty much everybody has some sort of sweet fired dough/batter concoction. e.g. **Strangelove** ’s funnel cakes. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/64 "2020-10-14T02:36:56Z")
If jelly-filled pastries are doughnuts (I’m skeptical of that myself), then certainly so are [Hamantaschen](http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&q=hamantaschen&btnG=Search+Images). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/65 "2020-10-14T03:34:29Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > If jelly-filled pastries are doughnuts (I’m skeptical of that myself), then certainly so are [Hamantaschen](http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&q=hamantaschen&btnG=Search+Images). Jelly-filled _fried_ items may be considered donuts. Hammantaschen are baked, not fried. They are a kind of cookie, not a donut. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/66 "2020-10-14T03:39:57Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > FTR, I’m not seriously suggesting the US term donut (however spelled) legitimately encompasses churros. Take a stand! Tacos are sandwiches! Breakfast cereal is soup! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/67 "2020-10-14T03:40:29Z")
Is [this a doughnut (photo)](https://static.rapidonline.com/catalogueimages/product/85/71/s85-7104p01wm.jpg)? Well, actually [it’s one of these things](https://www.rapidonline.com/metcal-ac-ys4-circular-sponge-3-12-dia-x-1-0-for-ws2-workstand-pack-of-10-85-7104), high in complex carbohydrates. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/68 "2020-10-14T03:45:01Z")
Donuts can be baked. Most of the pre-packaged donuts are baked and all of Dunkin Donuts donuts are baked. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/69 "2020-10-14T03:56:50Z")
In addition, the hammantaschen pastry is much harder than donuts, more cookielike. Hammantaschen could be considered a kind of tart as well as a cookie, but no one would call them donuts. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/70 "2020-10-14T04:17:21Z")
I agree on that aspect. Donuts have a cake-like quality not found in hammantaschen. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to find them sold side by side with donuts, without causing confusion. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/71 "2020-10-14T05:36:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Donuts can be baked. Most of the pre-packaged donuts are baked and all of Dunkin Donuts donuts are baked. That’s where we differ. To me a _real_ doughnut must be fried in oil. If it’s baked, they can call it a doughnut, but it’s not a real doughnut. It’s a doughnut-shaped cake. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/72 "2020-10-14T06:14:00Z")
Yes, this. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/73 "2020-10-14T06:15:03Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > This is fascinating. I’ve never been to a place that sells donuts and did not sell jelly donuts (around here it is usually actually raspberry jelly, some sort of lemon curd, and mediocre “bavarian cream”). I’ve also never gotten a box of “mixed donuts” that didn’t contain filled jelly donuts, as well as “long johns” Then I have a correction to make. I’ve seen them. But I didn’t realize those were jelly donuts. I assumed that, like the other things you mentioned, they had a different name. And, yes, I’m aware of people calling the whole group “donuts”, but I assumed that was just synecdoche (using the name of part of a group for the whole). I just always thought jelly donuts were ring shaped, since I’ve seen ring shaped donuts with filling. I also had no idea that it counted if they included other fillings. It’s an odd hole in my knowledge, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/74 "2020-10-14T07:34:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s an odd hole in my knowledge, I guess. Is [knowledge with a hole in it](https://www.hobbydb.com/processed_uploads/subject_photo/subject_photo/image/35333/1514155209-31838-2039/Fearless_20Fosdick_large.jpg) a doughnut? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/75 "2020-10-14T08:22:27Z")
I don’t disagree. But it’s not the only way that most of the rest of the world and I diverge. This is the difficulty in defining what a donut is, there are too many different varieties of treats known as donuts, and other foods that share the same characteristics. Even if you and I don’t see those things as donuts we can’t stop others from identifying them as such. Donuts should just be considered their own food group like vegetables or dairy, and of course sharing their rightful place on the top of the food pyramid along with bacon. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/76 "2020-10-14T09:07:45Z")
The traditional basic food groups are caffeine (or was it chocolate?), cigarettes, red meat, and booze, right? Doughnuts you could stick in the pyramid somewhere under the category of “sweetmeats.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/77 "2020-10-14T11:45:49Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Take a stand! Tacos are sandwiches! Breakfast cereal is soup! Funny you should mention breakfast cereal. Here’s a coincidence about breakfast cereal being stretched in a different direction than soup. A couple days ago I was at the groc store hunting for cereal for wife. While staring at the giant wall-o-products I came upon these two new (to me at least) horrors. I had to snap pix & send them to her. Her response was they come with a lifetime-but-far-from-free subscription to **[Metformin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin)**. > **[Kellogg's Pop-Tarts Frosted Cookies and Creme Cold Breakfast Cereal, 11.2 oz...](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pop-Tarts-Breakfast-Cereal-Frosted-Cookies-and-Creme-Family-Size-17-3-Oz/470312359)** > > Not available Buy Kellogg's Pop-Tarts Frosted Cookies and Creme Cold Breakfast Cereal, 11.2 oz at Walmart.com Surprisingly, Kellogg’s own website doesn’t find that flavor; they only admit to making strawberry pop tarts cereal. Which is oh so much healthier. Their competitor General Mills is not to be outdone in the diabetes-o-genic sweepstakes: [https://www.target.com/p/hershey-39-s-kisses-breakfast-cereal-19-8-oz-general-mills/-/A-78364611](https://www.target.com/p/hershey-39-s-kisses-breakfast-cereal-19-8-oz-general-mills/-/A-78364611) And interestingly, the General Mills website also doesn’t admit to making this product either. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/78 "2020-10-14T13:06:11Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > The traditional basic food groups are caffeine (or was it chocolate?), cigarettes, red meat, and booze, right? The five basic food groups are salt, sugar, grease, carbohydrates, and alcohol. (Caffeine, nicotine, and chocolate are varieties of vitamins.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/79 "2020-10-14T16:50:34Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > That’s where we differ. To me a _real_ doughnut must be fried in oil. If it’s baked, they can call it a doughnut, but it’s not a real doughnut. It’s a doughnut-shaped cake. Hence the name “cake doughnut”. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718/80 "2020-10-14T17:06:26Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Funny you should mention breakfast cereal. Here’s a coincidence about breakfast cereal being stretched in a different direction than soup. Compared to those, “Super Sugar Crisps” are health food. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-differences-in-meaning-of-doughnut-donut/922718.md?page=5)