Donuts, donuts everywhere! (Donut Factory, Dunkin Donuts & Krispy Kreme) A debate on globalisation & food.

It's funny just how some things are universal no matter where you go. In a sense, it really shows how globalisation has made us all similar in a way. When cultures cross, some things get assimilated in the process. This then becomes a part of our daily way of life. (Scroll down to be spared the lengthy essay between globalisation and food)

Sometimes some people say that it is the media that spreads globalisation because ideologies are embedded subtly into our subconscious. They term this "soft power", in which cultures are influenced and changed gradually through the use of unconventional methods such as pop culture and the movies. This is why countries like North Korea control the media so vigorously and ban most forms of media. They believe that their citizens should assimilate only the state ideology and should not be exposed to foreign media lest they go wayward.

Anyway how does this all link up? Well, I believe that it's not the media that changes culture so much as food. While it might be true that the media is a powerful organ that has the capacity to influence one through this "soft power", people are getting smarter these days, and hence you see that there is an increase in resistance to the espoused ideologies. They discern and choose what they want to absorb and anything that seemingly doesn't conform to their beliefs are thrown out. In other words, youngsters in countries like Iran, can embrace the Hollywood pop culture with exuberance and enthusiasim, by idolising stars like Lindsay Lohan or Cold Play. Yet at the same time, they reject the values that Hollywood/America disseminates. In a way, it's a filter. So while these youngster laugh over the latest Hollywood movies, simultaneously, there is a resistance/filter that is switched on that points out to them what they agree/disagree with.

Food is different because it's so innocent and unassuming.

People embrace and love it with open arms. It's a wholehearted kind of love. Cultures are redefined as their traditional meals are complemented by "foreign" food. It might not be so much about Macdonalisation, because smallrestaurants that pop out all over the world serving Korean, Chinese,Japanese cuisine do impact the society as well. Local restaurants are joined by the influx of restaurants serving foreign food, and sometimes these "foreign food" come to stay permanently. Some of us grow a love for them in time to come because they seem to become a part of us. While the media causes people to have their guards on, people don't really resist food. It's either a case of 'I like the food' or 'I don't like it' (but I do not dislike it just because it's Japanese or Chinese or Itallian).

Some have commented that locals buy into all things "foreign" because by purchasing a certain commodity, or by eating say, a japanese meal, they get to experience that global link and feel like they are a part of this "globalisation".

But for me, I feel that this is all jumbo-mambo-shambles at times. In other words, I feel that people do not eat a certain dish just because they want to feel more cosmopolitan. I feel that people eat a certain foreign dish because they just like it. It's weird how in life, so many intellectuals out there like to complicate life and formulate all these abstract theories when simply put, people do it sometimes, just because they like it.

If the definition of globalisation doesn't include all these huge theories of "exchanges of ideologies" and simply refer to the "shrinking of the world with the advances of technology", then I would say that food is the ultimate winner because it is embraced, accepted, AND assimilated into various cultures everywhere. While Hollywood is powerful (and so is Korean dramas), food makes a huge impact because when it comes, it stays permanently and sometimes it's adapted to the local context so much that it becomes a part of it. Globalisation in this sense would refer to how one is able to obtain exquisite foreign dishes as though one is in that country, because of the increasing interconnectedness of the world. Foreign ingredients are now available with the increase in access to these substances.

Food, food, food! Powerful and delicious.

Note: Critics would point out though that cultures do resist food sometimes, especially when you are talking about Macdonalds or Starbucks in places like France or China.

So... how does globalisation work? The impartation of ideology through embedded cultural practices or does ideology comes first before the embracement of cultural practices? In other words do we become more Westernised just because we have Macdonalds, or do we have Macdonalds because we have become more westernised?

See... the intricate complexities that all these intellectuals subject you to. I guess the question of globalisation can never be fully answered. What is it? How does it occur?

Well, all I'm saying is that people tend to be more open to food as it is indeed less suspicious. This in turns bridges culture, links communities and create a sort of hybridised society where a combination of local and global aspects is present today. Today, we see the hybridised form so often, that we no longer think it to be anything new. Walking down the street, I grab a Mac Softie, a chinese take-away, a baguette from delifrance and some sushi for my parents. I later catch a movie where Hannibal is cutting up some humans to eat. I then think to myself "What an awful show. What kind of values does America promote?"

So don't you all agree with me then that food is indeed a more powerful form where it integrates itself smoothly into societies and stay there quite permanently, sometimes hybdrising itself with the local context, thus becoming part of the local context. Compare this to the media where movies or pop songs abound... food sees less resistance, more welcome and has better staying power.

Food is what makes the world go round!

Cheers to food! :)
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Anyway I wrote one long essay on food and globalisation simply because I wanted to highlight the wonders of the humble donut. It's everywhere! Ingrained into various cultures and societies that you don't even wonder about their beginnings!

Donut Factory at Raffles City Basement
In Singapore, we have a favourite pastime besides eating. And that's none other than queuing! It's so crazy! The new kid on the block Donut Factory has been garnering huge queues that stretches from one end of the pacific ocean to the other. Ok, so it's more like one end of the basement to the other, but still it's no mean feat when you are talking about queuing for 2 hours!
I'm still sane, so I have not join the queue yet. The fuss over donut factory...

The hordes of people queuing up.
Nation-building exercise. I seriously believe that queuing is a national pastime that binds us together (especially when everyone squeezes to be the first one in the crowd). A nation that queues together, stays together. :)

Presenting the ever elusive donut factory!!
My sister's classmate wanted to try it so badly that he decided to join the queue while waiting for his classmates to come for their class gathering. Alas each person was only entitled to 2 boxes, so he couldn't buy an entire box for my family.

3 donuts, 3 donuts... see how fast they go... see how fast they go...
As a result L brought home 3 donuts only.

Kaya White Chocolate
Quickly eaten yes they were...
The donuts were really very good. However on subsequent bites we found the white chocolate to be too sweet. Cloyingly sweet. The first bite was fantastic, the white chocolate was really creamy and tasty. Great frosting. The donut had a great texture- firm yet soft at the same time. Despite the donuts getting to me many hours later, it still tasted really good. Thus I conclude that a fresh donut out of the oven would taste even better. Luckily it wasn't soggy. The Kaya tastes like normal kaya, but it did make a good combination with the white chocolate. Gives you a mouthful of smooth, soft donut coupled with deliciously fattening white chocolate and yummy kaya. If you don't eat it all by yourself, it won't be too over-bearingly sweet. 3/5

Orange White Chocolate
Down my hungry craving stomach.
Again, the white chocolate was ok on the first bite, but after a while, it gets too sweet (even for me). The orange drizzle did give it a nice contrast in taste. But I guess there's not much difference between this donut and the first one besides the kaya and the orange topping. 3/5

Hazlenut Milk Chocolate
The hazelnuts were very crunchy (hmmm what else can you expect of nuts?) and it gave a nice texture to the mouthful of milk chocolate donut. The milk chocolate wasn't as sweet as the white chocolate. Unfortunately I don't really like my donuts to be full of nuts. Haha wait. Do + Nut = donut? Maybe the donut came from doughs which were covered with nuts. Anyway, for those who love nuts in every bite, this is the donut for you. 3/5

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to try the Wasabi donut or the Blueberry donut that everyone said tasted great. The donuts tasted great on the whole. Really delicious and yummy. If I had to queue up to try this, I wouldn't mind. But now that I have eaten it, I would say I wouldn't bother to queue up again. Not that the taste isn't great. It really is yummy. But donuts are donuts. How many of them can you eat? After a while the sweetness overwhelms you and you have to get a drink. I would recommend those who are thinking of queuing up to eat them fresh. Maybe then it wouldn't taste that sweet. Overall, it's a 3/5 for the donuts!

The wonderful world of Donuts! A boxful of the rare elusive donuts from Donut factory!
The donuts my sister's friend managed to get. Sob so near yet so far. I couldn't try all the flavours. Anyway the wasabi and a few other flavours were sold out by the time he bought them. So there were some repeitive donuts.

From top left (left to right) Apple Cinnamon, Kaya White Chocolate, Lotus Mocha, Blueberry Glazed, Double Chocolate, Cheese Tartar, Strawberry White Chocolate, Peanut Dark Chocolate, Peanut Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut Milk Chocolate, Orange White Chocolate, Hazlenut Milk Chocolate.

Click here for their webpage.
However business seems to be so good for them that they don't have any content on the webpage, apart from pictures of some really good-looking, delicious donuts. They must be really busy!

Donut Factory
#B1-61 Raffles City Shopping Centre
250 North Bridge Road
S (179101)
Tel. no.: (+65) 63376268

P.S. Don't bother calling to book the donuts in advance. When I called in late January, they said I could only call again in March as their orders were fully booked all the way.

So that was in Singapore...

And then when we were in America, the humble donut accompanied us through the monstrous queues of the Empire State building.

When I was in New York, the queue for the Empire State building was never-ending, like this...

My sister L and me- 'artistic' blurring rendered in order to keep this blog's focus on food. :)
The thing about the Empire State Building was that the queue you see here, well that was like a quarter of the actual queue! And this was like queue 1 out of queue 10. We had to queue forever to get to the top!
Firstly you queue outside to get in.
Then you queue inside to go up.
Then you queue inside to go into the inner queue.
Then you queue at the ticket booth.
Then you queue for your audio recording (this device you play to tell you all you need to know about the Empire State Building).
Then you queue again to wait for the lift.
Then you queue for the lift.
Then when you are in the lift, you finally get out, but...
You have to queue again to wait to get to the observation deck.
And then you queue for security checks...
And then you wait a little bit more (and here the pple start telling you "You're getting closer.. just a little bit more!!") and finally....
You squirm your way through the hundreds of people and make your way outside to the deck.

And then you... spend 20 min out there, get sick of the same scenery and you leave.

Did I mention that we spent almost 2 hours plus queuing? That's why some guidebooks mention that when you want to go there, you have to allocate half a day (seriously it's the queueing). While the order of my queues might not be 100% right, as halfway through your brain just shuts down from the queueing because it's so exasperated! You keep thinking "Ar! Finally the end of the queue! And then you realise.. you have been conned! It's yet another queue!"

Thank God we had the foresight to grab these lovely gems first...

Dunkin Donuts!
The difference between Dunkin Donuts and Donut Factory is that there is a greater variety for Dunkin Donuts, the taste is not too sweet, the donut is more spongey (donut factory's donuts are more cake-like) and there are different frostings provided. Not just the same white chocolate coating, but white sugar coating, sprinkles, chocolate, etc etc. I kind of prefer Dunkin Donut because it's not all that sweet. I like those donuts with the filling inside that oozes out. Really yummy. 3.5/5

Krispy Kreme

When we were in New York we couldn't spot a single Krispy Kreme. That was really shocking because throughout our entire America trip we didn't see a single branch. This was really weird considering how Krispy Kreme is supposed to be the number 1 supreme donuts in America. We finally spotted a Krispy Kreme donut section in the Empire State Building's convenience store. But the donut we tasted wasn't the hot fresh donuts we like. It was cloying sweet too, in fact it was way sweeter than the Donut Factory. From that donut, L and I couldn't see what the whole fuss over Krispy Kreme donuts was about. I would rate Krispies a 3/5. Perhaps I'm not doing Krispy Kreme justice because I didn't try their donuts from their real stores.

Anyway I heard that when you are queuing up for Krispies, the queue takes some time so you are always given a whole FREE donut to eat while waiting. I really love America for that. The samples are always whole pieces and never itsy bitsy pieces. If any of you ever drop by Seattle or San Fran, go to See's Chocolates and you will get whole pieces of chocolates to sample. Yummy. But of course knowing the nature of us Singaporeans, please don't go there just to get the free samples.

L and I were speculating whether Krispy Kreme was cutting down on its branches or something. It was entirely impossible not to have Krispy Kreme outlet in New York City! We felt it was due to the increasing number of Americans becoming health conscious and weight conscious. So stores like Krispy Kreme are affected more because their sugar-laden donuts are causing Americans' cholesterol to go up. I guess it's the same way with Macdonalds. The outcry from 'Super Size me' has resulted in the shrinking of its burgers. When L and I were there, we didn't see a single 'Up-size' option. Plus now their burgers are really small (comparable to Singapore's Mac). And you pay the same amount despite the shrinking of the burgers (7-8USD).

Before I end off, I shall enlighten you guys with some pictures on what the Entire State Building is all about AND spare you the torture of wasting half your life there. Seriously, it's not worth the frustration! Pictures from the internet and travel books are enough, of course unless you want to pretend to be King Kong's damsel-in-distress-love.

The huge crowds everywhere.
To get a decent picture, you have to squeeze your way to the metal grills.

Me and L with the 'picturesque' New York.
After 5 min, you get bored of the New York Cityline because everything looks the same. Dull, drab and monotonous. Of course you spot lots of interesting buildings here and there. But what scenery can you expect to get from the City of Cities?

New York Cityscape
Yes, there are gold-capped buildings. I don't know if those are real gold, but alot came from Egyptian influences I think.

Chrylser Building in the background
It used to be the tallest building in New York. But it was soon replaced by the Empire State Building. It's funny looking at all these pictures because when you watch dramas like 'Heroes', they keep zooming in on the Chrysler Building and you just go 'Hey... I was there...' and it's just so surreal watching something on TV and linking it to your reality.

King Kong was here.
It's just so weird that something in front of you have been iconised to such a great extent. This metal pointy structure actually appeared in countless of movies! Imagine that.

The Empire State mural that fronts the lobby.
Everything's conserved in this building and nothing can be replaced unless it's an exact replica.

I really liked America. And it's perennial obsession with donuts.

Someone once told me that the donut is the greatest symbol of life.
-Life without Jesus is like a hole in the middle of your heart.

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