Talk:Sufganiyah

Difference between a doughnut and Sufganiyah

Is there any other difference between a doughtnut (donut) and a Sufganiyah, besides the name? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.98.24.64 (talk) 14:42, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

why isn't anybody answering ?Grimmjow E6 (talk) 05:25, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Well they're not like western/American doughnuts thank goodness, but looking at the article on Pączki they're basically similar to those in all but name (although also known as the derivative פּאָנטשקעס, pontshkes). That article suggest Sufganiyot is just a modern name for them. Hakluyt bean (talk) 16:45, 25 February 2009 (UTC)

To put it more graphically, an American doughnut is ring-shaped -- fried ring of dough with a hole in the center. The Israeli/Jewish sufganiya is ball-shaped -- a fried ball of yeast dough, generally with a jam filling. From personal experience I can say that the basic taste of the dough (ignoring the jam filling) is also quite different. --Zlerman (talk) 17:01, 25 February 2009 (UTC)

Jelly Donuts or any filled donut in the U.S. are not ring shaped. Only frosted and plain donuts are ring shaped. So, I too would like to know if there is a difference between a sufganiyah and a jelly donut. My bet is that they are the same. 69.122.122.147 (talk) 07:00, 2 December 2010 (UTC)AR

I think it depends on the sufganiyah, as many are not with jelly these days and don't need to be to be a sufganiyah. And there is no doubt the difference of lard, which I understand some baked goods are made with (not sufganiyot obviously). But, yes, I would say that, aside from those things, and leaving aside how they are prepared, some of the differences you are eager to find are similar to the differences betwen a jelly doughnut and a Berliner. Or between a Berliner and a pontshke. Or between a pontshke and a paczke. Or between a paczke and a Berliner. And so on. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.67.101.224 (talk) 22:29, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

The article says that they're made from a sweet dough, and Western style raised doughnut dough isn't sweet. Does that answer your question? JDZeff (talk) 06:51, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

The modern Sufggania are 100% identical to the German doughnuts called Berliner (doughnut). I mean, 100% - the Berliners have exactly the same shape (a slightly flattened ball), exactly the same jam filling, and even the same fine sugar on top. You can find these Berliners in German supermarkets all year round, not just in Hanukkah :-) This article is incomplete without mentioning that these are identical, and why. I'm guessing that the Ashkenazi Jews from Germany brought with them their favorite type of doughnut. Nyh (talk) 16:19, 23 December 2019 (UTC)

Yes, Nyh, it is high time that this article addresses the Berliner/sufganiyah connection. Actually, the entire history is found in Gil Marks' Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, already quoted in this article. I have expanded the History section. Looks like it was Polish Jews, not German Jews, who introduced the jelly doughnut to Israel. Thanks, Yoninah (talk) 20:46, 24 December 2019 (UTC)

Hebrew plural

Shouldn't the hebrew plural be סופגניות rather than סופגנייות? See e.g. the hebrew version of this article.
--Blanu 07:52, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

Sufganiyah, sfenj, panzerotti, etc.

Chumash11 thank you for expanding the article with sources. However, the presentation is now difficult to follow, with sufganiyot and sfenj being talked about in the same paragraphs as if they were the same thing in Israel. This is very confusing. If it's important to mention the introduction of sfenj to Israel by Moroccan Jews, and it also becoming a popular Hanukkah food in Israel, it would be better to put it in its own section at the end. Ditto for panzerotti and other similar foods mentioned here. But the main article should be about Sufganiyah. Thanks, Yoninah (talk) 19:35, 2 June 2018 (UTC)

I moved all the different types of sufganiyot to a new "Variety" section at the end of the article. Hopefully this makes things more legible. Thanks for all your hard work, here, at DYK, and elsewhere. Chumash11 (talk) 13:09, 3 June 2018 (UTC)

Chumash11, thank you, the "Varieties" section is very interesting. But there's still too much intermingling of all the varieties in the history section. We have separate articles about sfenj and panzerotti. This article is about sufganiyot. Ideally, the page should talk only about sufganiyot and have a "see also" to the other kinds. Yoninah (talk) 21:15, 3 June 2018 (UTC)

I have re-edited the page. I also added Template:Copied since you copied text into this article from sfenj. Yoninah (talk) 22:36, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

I like the edits you made. I made some very small changes: making quoted text match the source material, keeping italicization consistent, and the like. Chumash11 (talk) 19:49, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

@Chumash11:: thank you. I'd just like to note there's no source for strawberry jelly; I was under the impression it was petel (raspberry jelly). Yoninah (talk) 19:59, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Look in Kessler's article from Tablet (http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/219524/savory-sufganiyot), which is cited in that sentence: "the plain strawberry jam-filled variety... still represent the standard at supermarkets and grocery stores". All I remember from last Hanukkah was that the filling was red. Chumash11 (talk) 15:54, 7 June 2018 (UTC)

OK, thanks! Yoninah (talk) 20:52, 7 June 2018 (UTC)

Origin of sufganiyot

@Cbpoofs: the reason for your revert is unclear. The history of sufganiyot is explained by Jewish food historians like Gil Marks (quoted here in his Encyclopedia of Jewish Food). The doughnut originated in Germany as the Berliner, moved to Poland, and came to Israel with the Polish–Jewish immigration, which occurred around the turn of the century (I haven't checked the dates). The term sufganiyah is totally an Israeli fabrication, however; perhaps what's needed here to satisfy you is a source stating just that. It was not called a suganiyah in Europe, nor in Judea. The Talmud, as reported, called it sofgan or sfogga. It should also be noted that in all these iterations, the doughnut was homemade. It only took on its present, machine-made form with the Histadrut labor union in the 1920s.

So for the infobox, Judea is totally incorrect. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to give the country of origin as Palestine? Yoninah (talk) 22:09, 22 January 2020 (UTC)

There appear to be a few conflicting interests in terms of accurately describing the origin of the food.

1. The food has dramatically evolved from original mentions in the Talmud. However, at time of first mention, Judea accurately describes the region of origin.

2. The food was spread through the Jewish diaspora and the major developments (soaked break to jam filling) were undertaken by European Jews.

3. The industrialization of the process occurred in Palestine before the creation of the modern started of Israel.

4. I am unable to figure out the first use of the word sufganiyot. However the word was likely first used by Israelis.

I am mostly fine in using the word Palestine to describe the country of origin. However, it does somewhat understate the specific ethnic nature of the food (likely the reason Israel was originally chosen). Cbpoofs (talk) 23:38, 22 January 2020 (UTC)

@Yoninah - I see I've parachuted into this issue late, but thank you for changing the infobox field for "place of origin" to Europe. I think that's the best indisputably correct answer: The body text and its citation make clear that Israel was not correct, which is why I changed it to Poland (discussed in the text as the place where oil/schmaltz replaced lard). That said, I agree with your initial edit that Germany is also a reasonable contender for the origin of this specific dish. "Europe" happily covers both, and avoids the need for any analysis of the frequently changing political boundaries in Central/Eastern Europe during the past few centuries. I just wish I'd thought of it first! --EightYearBreak (talk) 19:12, 9 July 2020 (UTC)

• @EightYearBreak: thank you for your nice note. Actually, yours was one of many edits that have been made to this article over the years disputing the place of origin as Israel. I finally expanded the lead to give a little of the history (and also a nod to past editors who have mentioned its similarity to the Berliner), and put Europe in the infobox. Glad you liked it. Best, Yoninah (talk) 19:20, 9 July 2020 (UTC)

Price

I deleted "(priced at up to $3 per sufganiyah)" following "More expensive versions" in Section #4 Description since https://yeahthatskosher.com/2022/12/master-list-finding-sufganiyot-in-the-us-canada-2022/ and https://www.jta.org/2022/12/13/ny/later-latke-these-nyc-establishments-are-serving-unique-hanukkah-treats show the 2022 price is higher in North America and https://debbestfood.com/2022/12/16/the-best-jerusalem-sufganiyot-hanukah-2022/ shows it's higher in Israel (where $3 has been between NIS 10 and NIS 11 for months). Mcljlm (talk) 20:11, 19 December 2022 (UTC)