Charlotte Journal: Doughnuts 01/04/2014

This is an English translation of my friend's Japanese blog.
-------------------

Charlotte Journal 01/04/2014

  

   I have a box of doughnuts in front of me, so let me talk about doughnuts today.  Two things I got hooked on in the US are doughnuts and American football. Dunkin Donuts has chain stores all over the US, and you find the stores everywhere. Krispy Kreme doughnuts became a fad in Japan a couple years ago, but you can buy them even at the supermarkets. In other words, there are doughnuts all around. I try to resist them, but I just can’t help myself.

　

   Just as the same can be said of any foods, doughnuts taste the best when they are freshly made. There is a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts store just at a 20-minute-drive from my apartment. I have memorized the schedule when doughnuts get ready in the store, so that I can get to the store just in time to buy the freshly made doughnuts hot from the pan. That doughnut shop turns on a red neon light when they have hot doughnuts. Drivers seeing the neon turned on are lured to get in the store - just like the ants swarming to sugar.

 

   Well then, what are those “doughnuts” that attract the Americans (and me)? Doughnuts have a long history. They have their origin in Europe, and have been in existence longer than the country of the USA. It must have been the early immigrants to the US who brought in the recipe, and they were already in the US at the time it was founded. The Americans know the taste of doughnuts by their genes before they were born. However, oil and sugar to make doughnuts was quite expensive in the old times . They were not the casual foods as they are today but were special treats for special occasions. People generally like specialty items, but it is probably because of the sugar that makes us obsessed about doughnuts. Doughnuts in the US are, as you can imagine, very sweet. When you eat doughnuts, you feel as if the sugar was pasted thickly on the receptor which feels sweetness. Your sense of taste is paralyzed and you are no longer able to feel the sweetness.  Doughnuts have a lot of sugar, and sugar is thought to be addictive.  As I said, the sweetness should be the source of the charm of doughnuts. The price of doughnuts is reasonable. At Krispy Kreme doughnuts, although each doughnut has a different price, a dozen of them usually cost around eight dollars.  By the way, when you buy lunch at a cafeteria in the US, salads cost the most, and hamburgers and desserts are surprisingly cheap. The price of a high calorie meal with a lot of oil and sugar is low, and I think it is one of the reasons why the obesity rate is higher among people with lower incomes. I know I should not have too many doughnuts for my health, but I think I am already addicted to sugar, and my tongue and brain are sending wrong messages.

 

The slogan of Dunkin Donuts is “America runs on Dunkin”. Isn’t it scary to be addicted to sugar?