Sufganiyah

File:Sufganiot.jpg]]

On Hanukkah, Jews observe the custom of eating fried foods in commemoration of the miracle associated with the Temple oil.{{cite web |url=https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/3872163/jewish/Why-Eat-Latkes-and-Sufganiyot-Doughnuts-on-Chanukah.htm|title=Why Eat Latkes and Sufganiyot (Doughnuts) on Chanukah?|first=Yehudah|last=Shurpin|year=2018|access-date=November 27, 2018|work=Chabad.org}} The tradition of eating deep-fried pastries on Hanukkah was considered ancient even in the time of the 12th-century rabbi Maimonides, whose father, Rabbi Maimon ben Yosef, wrote that "one must not make light of the custom of eating sofganim [fritters] on Chanukah. It is a custom of the Kadmonim [the ancient ones]". These sofganim were likely syrup-soaked fried cakes, akin to modern zalabiya in the Arab world.

The Hebrew word sufganiyah is a neologism for pastry, based on the Talmudic words sofgan and sfogga, which refer to a "spongy dough".{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1bCBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA326|title=The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets

|editor-first=Darra|editor-last=Goldstein|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-931361-7|page=326}} The word is built on the same root as the Modern Hebrew word for sponge ({{lang|he|ספוג}}, sfog), which is derived from {{Langx|grc-x-koine|σπόγγος|spóngos}}.{{cite book |title=The New Even Shoshan Dictionary |volume=II |page=932}}{{cite web|url=https://forward.com/culture/14883/a-baker-s-dozen-thirteen-ways-of-looking-at-a-d-03110/|author=Philologos|date=January 8, 2009|website=The Forward|accessdate=November 30, 2021|title=A Baker's Dozen: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Doughnut}} Sfenj, a Moroccan doughnut, comes from the same root.{{cite magazine |last1=Rude |first1=Emelyn |title=Why Jelly Doughnuts Are Eaten During Hanukkah |url=https://time.com/4138749/sufganiyot-jelly-doughnut-hanukkah-history/ |access-date=28 November 2018 |magazine=Time |date=9 December 2015 |language=en}}

A popular Israeli folktale holds that the word "sufganiyah" comes from the Hebrew expression "Sof Gan Yud-Heh" ("{{lang|he|סוף גן יה}}"), meaning "the end of the Garden of the Lord" (referring to the Garden of Eden). According to the legend, when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden by the Lord, He cheered them up by feeding them sufganiyot. No known commentator on the Tanakh supports this interpretation.

File:Chocolate-vanilla cream sufganiyot.jpg, Jerusalem]]

According to food historian Gil Marks, the recipe for a filled jelly doughnut was first published in a 1485 cookbook in Nuremberg. The "Gefüllte Krapfen" consisted of "a bit of jam sandwiched between two rounds of yeast bread dough and deep-fried in lard". This doughnut became popular in northern European countries from Denmark to Russia during the 16th century. In 19th-century Germany it began to be called a Berliner or a Bismarck, after German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.

Among Polish Jews, the jelly doughnut was fried in oil or schmaltz rather than lard, due to kashrut laws. In Poland, these doughnuts were known as ponchkis. Polish Jewish immigrants to Mandatory Palestine brought along their recipe as well as the tradition of eating them on Hanukkah. In Israel, however, they took on a new name—sufganiyot—based on the Talmud's description of a "spongy dough" (see the Etymology section).

The ponchik-style sufganiyah was originally made from two circles of dough surrounding a jelly filling, stuck together and fried in one piece.{{cite book |title=The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York |last=Roden |first=Claudia |year=1996 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York}} Although this method is still practiced, an easier technique commonly used today is to deep-fry whole balls of dough, and then inject them with a filling through a baker's syringe (or a special industrial machine).

Modern-day sufganiyot in Israel are made from sweet yeast dough, filled with plain red jelly (usually strawberry,{{cite magazine |last=Kessler |first=Dana |date=December 20, 2016 |title=Savory Sufganiyot Offer a Different Taste of Hanukkah |url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/219524/savory-sufganiyot |magazine=Tablet |access-date=June 2, 2018 }} sometimes raspberry), and topped with powdered sugar. Fancier versions are stuffed with dulce de leche, chocolate cream, vanilla cream, cappuccino, halva, creme espresso, chocolate truffle, or araq, and topped with various extravagant toppings, from coconut shavings and tiny vials of liquor to meringue and fruit pastes.{{cite news |last=Maimon |first=Rotem |title=דירוג "הארץ": מצעד הסופגניות הטובות והגרועות של השנה |trans-title=Haaretz Rating: The best and worst sufganiyot of the year |work=Haaretz |access-date=27 December 2015 |date=1 December 2015 |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/food/holidays/hanukkah/.premium-1.2788812|language=he}} In 2014 one Jerusalem bakery produced sufganiyah dough saturated with flavored vodka.{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/.premium-1.559577|title=Rolling in Dough: The 8 Best Hanukkah Sufganiyot in Israel|author=City Mouse Online|date=24 November 2013|access-date=27 December 2015|work=Haaretz}}

File:Deep-frying sufganiyot.jpg|A baker deep-fries sufganiyot at the Mahane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem.

File:Sufganiyot at Mahane Yehuda shuk.jpg|Powdered and iced sufganiyot for sale in Jerusalem before Hanukkah 2014

File:Sufganiyot-roladin.jpg|Sufganiyot from Roladin, an Israeli bakery chain

In 2016, Israeli bakeries began downsizing sufganiyot to appeal to health-conscious consumers, following an anti-junk food campaign by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman.{{cite news |last1=Kamisher |first1=Eliyahu |title=THE SUFGANIKING DETHRONED |url=https://www.jpost.com/Not-Just-News/The-Sufganiking-dethroned-476576 |access-date=2 June 2018 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=December 26, 2016}} The usual {{convert|100|g|adj=on}} size, packing 400 to 600 calories (1,700 to 2,500 kJ),{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=162844 |title=Love Me Dough |author1=Minsberg, Tali |author2=Lidman, Melanie |date=2009-12-10 |access-date=2009-12-17 |work=The Jerusalem Post}} now appears in {{convert|50|g|adj=on}} size with different fillings and toppings, earning the name "mini".{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3335737,00.html |title=Hanukkah: Doughnuts go healthy |last=Yefet |first=Orna |date=2006-12-04 |access-date=2010-04-06 |newspaper=Ynetnews}}

Until the 1920s, sufganiyot and latkes were of comparable popularity among Jews in Mandatory Palestine during the Hanukkah holiday. The Histadrut, Israel's national labor union, formed in 1920, pushed to replace the homemade latke with the sufganiyah as Israel's quintessential Hanukkah food to provide more work for its members. Commercial bakeries began selling sufganiyot days and weeks before Hanukkah began, lengthening the employment period. Their effort was successful, and sufganiyot became the most popular food for Hanukkah in Israel.{{efn|Some sources report that something similar happened with sfenj and sufganiyot, though this is less well-supported.{{cite web |last1=Kaufman |first1=Jared |title=Never Underestimate the Doughnut Lobby |url=https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2018/sfenj-in-morocco/ |website=Roads & Kingdoms |access-date=28 November 2018 |date=21 February 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Solomonov |first1=Michael |title=Why Sfenj Couldn't Be the Official Dessert of Hanukkah |url=https://food52.com/blog/18520-why-sfenj-couldn-t-be-the-official-dessert-of-hanukkah |website=Food52 |access-date=28 November 2018 |language=en-us |date=1 December 2016}}}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFK_yx7Ps7cC&pg=PT1727|title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food|first=Gil|last=Marks|author-link=Gil Marks|year=2010|publisher=HMH|isbn=978-0-544-18631-6|pages=1725–1727}} By the 21st century, more Israeli Jews report eating sufganiyot on Hanukkah than fasting on Yom Kippur.{{Cite magazine |last=Ungar |first=Carol Green|date=Winter 2012 |title=The 'Hole' Truth About Sufganiyot |url=https://jewishaction.com/religion/shabbat-holidays/chanukah/the-hole-truth-about-sufganiyot/ |magazine=Jewish Action |publisher=Orthodox Union |access-date=2018-05-31}}{{cite news |last1=Nachshoni |first1=Kobi |title=Poll: 73% of Israelis fast on Yom Kippur |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4428978,00.html |access-date=31 May 2018 |work=Ynetnews |date=September 13, 2013}}

Today sufganiyot are sold by Israeli bakeries as early as September.{{cite news |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5414305,00.html|title=To eat or not to eat? Here are the best sufganiyot for Hanukkah|author=Yedioth Ahronoth|newspaper=Ynetnews |author-link=Yedioth Ahronoth|date=November 30, 2018|access-date=December 24, 2019}} Angel Bakeries, the largest bakery in Israel, reportedly fries up more than 25,000 sufganiyot every day during the eight-day Hanukkah festival itself. Each batch uses {{cvt|100|kg}} of dough and makes 1,600 sufganiyot.{{cite web |url=http://www.food-lists.com/lists/archives/clipping-cooking/2003/12/1071940462.php |title=Sufganiyot |last=Mietkiewicz |first=Mark |date=2003-12-20 |access-date=2010-04-06 |publisher=Food-Lists.com |archive-date=2010-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117183328/http://www.food-lists.com/lists/archives/clipping-cooking/2003/12/1071940462.php |url-status=dead }} Local newspapers add to the excitement by rating the "best sufganiyah in town".{{cite web|url=http://www.jerusalemfoundation.org/news-updates/2016/sufganiyot-with-the-jerusalem-foundation.aspx|title=Sufganiyot with the Jerusalem Foundation|year=2016|access-date=November 27, 2018|publisher=Jerusalem Foundation|archive-date=November 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128040429/http://www.jerusalemfoundation.org/news-updates/2016/sufganiyot-with-the-jerusalem-foundation.aspx|url-status=dead}}

The Ministry of Defense buys upwards of 400,000 sufganiyot for its soldiers each Hanukkah.{{cite web |url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Happy-Hanukkah-IDF-572746|title=Doughnut Delights: Happy Hanukkah IDF!|first=Anna|last=Ahronheim|date=November 25, 2018|access-date=November 27, 2018|work=The Jerusalem Post}}{{cite web |url=https://hamodia.com/2015/12/06/sufganiyot-and-more-for-idf-soldiers/|title=Sufganiyot and More for IDF Soldiers|first=Reuven|last=Heikishman|date=December 6, 2015|access-date=November 27, 2018|work=Hamodia}} As the troops overwhelmingly prefer jelly-filled doughnuts, the Defense Ministry purchases 80% with jelly filling and 20% with chocolate filling.

File:PikiWiki Israel 46141 Sarona Market.JPG|Sufganiyot for sale at a stall in the Sarona Market

File:Safed Jewish Boy.jpg|A haredi boy eats a sufganiyah in the old city of Safed.

File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - 2011 Hanukkah Celebrations.jpg|Israeli soldiers enjoying sufganiyot as part of their Hanukkah festivities

File:חנוכיה לחנוכה.jpg

Sufganiyot are a relatively recent introduction to the United States, where latkes are the traditional Hanukkah food. According to Gil Marks, latke was still the dominant choice in American Jewish homes in 2012. Rabbi Levi Shemtov in 2019 said, "Latkes used to dominate in the U.S., while doughnuts dominated in Israel. Now, I think both are equally popular in the U.S."

The sufganiyah was introduced by American Jews who had visited or studied in Israel, and by Israeli Jews who had settled in the U.S. While sufganiyot were not commercially available in the United States before the 1970s, today bakeries in many Jewish communities sell sufganiyot, as do non-kosher bakeries.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/people-wait-all-year-at-a-jewish-bakery-desperate-demand-for-hanukkah-doughnuts/2019/12/22/002fcc4e-2207-11ea-a153-dce4b94e4249_story.html|title='People wait all year': At a Jewish bakery, desperate demand for Hanukkah doughnuts|first=Rebecca|last=Tan|date=December 23, 2019|access-date=December 24, 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post}} The doughnut chains Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme purvey sufganiyot in their kosher-certified outlets.{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-america-discovers-the-sufganiyah-1.5267386|title=America Discovers the Sufganiyah|first=Debra Nussbaum|last=Cohen|date=December 3, 2019|work=Haaretz|access-date=December 24, 2019}}

Sufganiyot are also sold in kosher shops in Europe. Smaller Jewish communities in Russia and Ukraine organize special "community bakes" to prepare sufganiyot for school and kindergarten parties.{{cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-hanukkah-sufganiyot-became-a-national-treat-in-the-netherlands/|title=How Hanukkah sufganiyot became a national treat in the Netherlands|first=Cnaan|last=Liphshiz|date=December 18, 2016|access-date=December 24, 2019|work=The Times of Israel}}

Savory sufganiyot also exist. In 2018, The Jerusalem Post reported on a new trend of savory sufganiyot in Manhattan eateries, in which the dough is filled with chicken schnitzel, lamb bacon, liver, or pastrami.{{cite web |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Savory-sufganiyot-take-New-York-by-storm-573872|title=Savory sufganiyot take New York by storm|first=Amy|last=Spiro|date=December 9, 2018|access-date=December 24, 2019|work=The Jerusalem Post}} Other savory varieties include:

• Panzerotti in Italy, filled with mozzarella and tomato sauce.
• Lachmazikas in Spain, filled with everything from lamb and mushrooms to whitefish, ricotta, peppers, and herbs.
• Sambusa-inspired savory sufganiyot, filled with lentils and peas, are popular among Iraqi Jews in Israel.

File:Mini sufganiyot.jpg|Elegantly-styled "mini" sufganiyot

File:Sufganiyah-Roland.jpg|Fancy sufganiyot

File:Sufganiyot at Jerusalem Central Bus station.jpg|Sufganiyot from a bakery in Jerusalem

• List of doughnut varieties
• Israeli cuisine
• Culture of Israel
• Bimuelos – fritters served on Hanukkah by Sephardi Jews
• Bombolone
• Fritas de prasa
• Sfenj
• Zalabiyeh

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• [http://www.jinsider.com/videos/vid/28-cooking/448-sufganyot.html Making non-traditional sufganiyot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170714/http://www.jinsider.com/videos/vid/28-cooking/448-sufganyot.html |date=2016-03-03 }}: a demonstration video with Phyllis Glazer
• [http://melaketet.com/מאפיםמתוקים-סופגניות Sufganiyot – The Best] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102151257/http://melaketet.com/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%9D%D7%9E%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%92%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA |date=2020-11-02 }} {{in lang|he}}
• [http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/.premium-1.559577 The best Hanukkah sufganiyot in Israel]

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