Doughnut Holes
Hello, young friends! Gather around and let me share with you a fascinating tale about the incredible Hanson Gregory, a sea captain from Camden, Maine, who may have invented the doughnut hole!
Captain Gregory was a sailor who spent most of his life on the high seas, navigating through stormy waters and encountering all sorts of challenges. But it was during a particularly stormy night that he stumbled upon a delicious discovery that would change the course of history.
One night, while munching on a fried cake, a sudden storm hit the ship, and Captain Gregory had to hold onto the helm with both hands to steer the ship through the rough waves. But he didn’t want to let go of his tasty treat, so he shoved the cake over one of the spokes of the ship's helm. In doing so, he accidentally created a hole in the middle of the cake!
When the storm subsided, Captain Gregory realized that the hole had made the cake much better. He had always found the center of the cake to be soggy and unpleasant, but with the hole, the cake was now crispy and delicious all around. He asked the ship’s cook to start making fried cakes with a hole in the middle, and thus, the doughnut hole was born!
Now, some say that this story is just a legend, and that the real inventor of the doughnut hole remains a mystery. Others claim that it was actually Captain Gregory’s mother who came up with the idea when he was just a young lad. She was making fried cakes, and Hanson, being the picky eater that he was, suggested that she remove the soggy center. It worked like a charm, and the rest is history.
Either way, we owe a debt of gratitude to Hanson Gregory for inventing the doughnut hole. Today, over $750 million worth of doughnuts are sold each year, and that’s a lot of doughnut holes! So, the next time you sink your teeth into a delicious doughnut, remember the man who made it all possible - the legendary Hanson Gregory, the seafaring hero who stumbled upon a tasty discovery while navigating the stormy seas.
