So I went into Sainsbury’s on Tottenham Court Road to get myself a doughnut. Except they didn’t have any – they only had donuts.
British and American variants on the confection are both spelt different and taste different, with American types being more imaginative, but tasting more processed than their rather less adventurous (but more wholesome) English variants. The latter are uniform in shape and come in frosted varieties with innumerable toppings and different fillings. The English equivalents are doughy, are either ringed or filled with jam (US: “jelly), and come dusted with caster sugar.
I wouldn’t mind this change of sugary goodness if it were not for another change. The sweets in question are now supplied and branded as part of a large American corporation. The traditional English doughnut has been edged out of the Supermarket, to be replaced by what would be termed by the less charitable as its increasingly ubiquitous glossy bastardisation.
Global homogenisation steps itself up one more notch. All we can hope for now is that a future multi-national might decide to rebrand the English Doughnut and relaunch it, repackaged and labelled as a novelty or speciality good. Even food is now a theme-park.