Egypt - December, 2017

Aboard the M/S Tosca
Luxor, Egypt
Rating: 

A cooking demonstration of Egyptian donuts (Zalabia)! Apparently, zalabia are a Mideast phenomenom-- the identical pastries are also made and served in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, etc., and in Morocco (with the accent on the 3^rd syllable).  The proper Egyptian pronunciation places the accent on the 2^nd syllable.  Speaking of accents, Arabic is spoken throughout the Arabian peninsula and in many areas of the Mideast.  Each country, with Egypt being no exception, has its own dialect.  But, we digress.

The chef, Hamdy, and his abled-bodied assistant, Karim, started off by giving us some history.  Zalabia have been prepared and served as sweet treats (on Fridays to usher in the day of rest) for the past 400 – 500 years.  Next, the chefs handed out recipes.  The batter is simple enough—sugar, milk, yeast, flour salt, corn oil, and corn starch (Hamdy explains corn starch makes them crunchy on the outside). 

Once the ingredients are mixed together, they are left to rise for two hours.  Then, they are spooned by teaspoonfuls into hot oil.

When done, the Zalabia are dipped into cinnamon or powdered sugar or a sugar syrup (honey could substitute) and eaten—immediately.  They were delicious!  Donut holes with a crunch but much lighter.  Hamdy and Karim served each of us 3 of these tasty treats—but some of us consumed many more than that!  They were scrumptious!!!!  Several of us had the opportunity to try our hand at spooning the batter into the hot oil.  Let's just say it was harder than it looked!  What a fun way to spend part of the afternoon on Christmas Eve.

Our wonderful guide Ossama

Boston - December, 2017

Union Square Donuts

Web Site: http://unionsquaredonuts.com/
Address: Main location: 20 Bow Street, Union Square, Somerville, MA
Rating: 

Highly acclaimed, Union Square Donuts (Brookline location) was my first stop on a December 2017 trip to Boston.  I sampled three donuts— cinnamon sugar cake (crunchy with a spicy bite— delicious!), vegan with Belgian dark chocolate glaze (the chocolate was even too strong for me and the vegan didn’t hold a candle to Dun- Well’s vegan donuts in Brooklyn), and toasted coconut yeast (the icing was delicious, the donut was dry). 

There were many other premium flavors such as: cranberry, eggnog, Vietnamese coffee and more. I only had an appetite for three! The staff—including a young man, Micah, whose mom grew up in Wayne’s hometown, was super friendly. Alas, alack, Union Square, I wish you had more cake varieties and I wish I’d had a buddy along so there could have been more tasting!

Blackbird Doughnuts

Web Site: https://www.blackbirddoughnuts.com/
Address: Main location: 492 Tremont, Boston, MA
Rating: 

Blackbird Doughnuts, in Boston’s South End, describes itself as “ the only artisanal doughnut shop in Boston that bakes on site!” It does not disappoint. I found Blackbird to be one of the few doughnut shops I have visited with equal numbers of cake and yeast style doughnuts. Of course, I focused on the cake and sampled three-mocha chip (double chocolate with mocha glaze and chips), apple cider (generous amounts of cinnamon) and chocolate old fashioned (chocolate doughnut with vanilla glaze). There was one critical discrepancy at Blackbird (at least to this reviewer). What were touted as “old fashioned” doughnuts were really not old fashioned doughnuts at all— but rather traditional cake doughnuts (albeit  with awesome flavors) by another name. So that was disappointing. But if you’re after wonderful cake (and I assume yeast) doughnuts in Boston and aren’t too caught up in the Union Square doughnuts craze, visit Blackbird. A yummy breakfast indeed.

Kane's Donuts

Web Site: http://www.kanesdonuts.com/
Address: Main location: Two International Place, 90 Oliver St., Boston, MA 02110
Rating: 

Founded in 1955 and highly lauded, Kane’s Donuts (past the North End in Boston) is well worth the tunnel traffic. They had a wide array of cake and yeast style donuts and many seasonal and regional flavors sampled including— but not limited to— ginger beer, chocolate candy cane, blueberry cake, crepe brûlée, gluten free chocolate coconut, toasted coconut, chocolate cruller, chocolate iced with Christmas sprinkles. The ginger beer was divine!  I wish Kane donuts were closer to home!

Arizona - September, 2017

La Mar’s Donuts

Web Site: http://www.lamars.com/
Address: 2340 W Bell Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85023
Rating: 

We generally steer away from donut chains (therein lies our aversion to Dunkin Donuts which do have some delicious flavors), but on a recent trip to Phoenix, we visited La Mar’s (founded in Kansas City and now boasting 25 stores in 5 states).  La Mar’s tagline is “simply a better donut” and they are onto something.  Their donuts are delicious and their business model makes sense.  We visited a clean, spacious store on the south side of Phoenix—with dozens of flavors.  We were fortunate to be accompanied by two additional taste testers (Wayne’s parents Dusty and Toni Rhodes).  So, this was a bonus enabling us to engage in broader sampling.  Toni completely approved of the chocolate filled Bismarck.  Dusty adored the chocolate donut.  Their old-fashioneds met all the criteria for delicious old-fashioneds—dark chocolate glaze, crunchy on the outside.  And their pumpkin spice (albeit early in the season) was delicious.  I can’t fault La Mar’s for their success—worth a visit!

Rainbow Donuts

Web Site: http://rainbowdonutsphx.com/
Address: 3831 East Thunderbird Road, Phoenix, AZ
Rating: 

Rainbow Donuts operate in many locations around the Phoenix area.  This is a traditional, donuts only, classic donut shop that felt like it had been lifted out of the 1950s.  The donuts were delicious—with a wide variety including old-fashioneds—but not particularly distinguishable.  If you must have a donut and want to steer clear of the larger chains, Rainbow Donuts might be the right destination for you.

BoSa Donuts

Web Site: http://bosadonutsaz.com/
Address: 16 locations in and around Phoenix
Rating: 

BoSa Donuts are located throughout the Phoenix area and beyond.  This is a traditional donuts spot (the location we visited had drive-through)—with other menu items beyond donuts.  The location we visited was not particularly clean which definitely detracted from the donuts’ appeal.  They had a wide variety of donuts but given the extent of other donut  offerings in the Phoenix area, this is not a spot I would return to.