30 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 8-14, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com A fresh room-temperature doughnut is not a bad thing in itself. Serve it hot, it’s a revelation. Sweet fried dough seems to be a feature of many culinary cultures. What makes beignets so special is the fact that they are always served hot—which can be, but is not often the case with typical American doughnuts. Eating my fifth beignet in the car parked downtown by the Old Monterey Farmers Market on a Tuesday night, I decided that the experience is similar to that of eating funnel cake, which is as warm and as generously dusted with melting powdered sugar as beignets, or even Indian gulab jamun (fried milk balls soaked in spiced sugar syrup). It’s all about warming your belly up. Beignets are French emigre doughnuts that made a stop in Canada before arriving in New Orleans with the Acadian diaspora. From humble beginnings, it became Louisiana’s state doughnut. Café Du Monde in the historic French Quarter, which opened in 1862, is the treat’s unofficial embassy, open year-round, with the exception of Christmas Day and major hurricanes. It’s a charming place, where things happen quickly and beignets are served immediately—always three of them, straight to the tables with bitter chicory coffee to contrast with the sugary treat. While the original recipe is kept in secret, many restaurants and home cooks cracked the code. There are plenty of recipes online; from the original source, we know that the dough is rolled out thin and cut in strips, then squared and thrown into hot grease for two minutes. Beignets should be airy and golden brown when done; the powdered sugar mess is iconic and a must. Beignets are available as a breakfast item at Googie Grill in Seaside as “Bourbon Street beignets, New Orleans-style fritters” that you can order as a trio or a quintet. The breakfast menu is available from 8am to 11:30am. They can be plated with Mama’s Blueberry Rose Jam. At Trailside Cafe in Carmel Valley, breakfast is served reasonably until 4pm, so there’s plenty of time to try their “French beignets” throughout the day. Dutch Door Donuts in Carmel carries them, as well as Seaside’s Congo Go, a Cambodian restaurant where beignets are available all day, from 10am to 8pm. (French cuisine made its imprint on Cambodia and other nations France once colonized.) Among local choices, beignets at the Old Monterey Farmers Market proved the most satisfying—even if they break the rules of the game by serving beignets in various flavors. What likely makes the difference is that the vendor, More to Life, is devoted to beignets alone, going through several batches during the day. More to Life travels to farmers markets around the Bay Area, and has developed loyal followings from Santa Clara to Livermore. They visit Monterey on Tuesdays. At other locations, beignets compete with other favorites on the menu: egg dishes at Googie Grill or Trailside Cafe, savory Southeast Asian delights in Congo Go. Having the grease hot and ready is the key; the quickness of service is another. Beignets are all about spontaneity. Eat them fast, regret later. Fortunately for beignets, humans are designed to respond to fat, gluten and sugar. The presence of doughnuts was traced to Roman times, when scholars report that fried dough called scriblita was popular. Such treats grew in popularity in medieval Europe. While Café Du Monde uses cottonseed oil that has a high smoke point, early beignets were fried in lard. That can be said also about German Berliners, Italian zeppole, Polish pączki or Dutch oliebollen. Add to it Argentinian bolas de fraile, buñuelos (Spain and Latin America), Peruvian picarones (of potato and squash but still sweet) or even North American frybread, and you get the gist. Fried dough has been for centuries part of the Catholic calendar and its celebrations. For beignets, that would be Mardi Gras, the final day of the carnival that started on Jan. 6 and culminates on the movable Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, falling 47 days before Easter. After that, Lent starts and will last until Easter, so eat your doughnuts, beignets and all things sweet and fatty while you can. FIRST COURSE French doughnuts, beignets, are square but too delicious to be disqualified from the doughnut family. These are from Congo Go in Seaside. WHEN IN ROME…Learn about Rome’s culinary history and delights, without the jet lag, at Ad Astra Atelier on Tuesday, Jan. 13 from 6-8pm. Hear New York Times best-selling author Katie Parla discuss her book, Rome: A Culinary History, Cookbook and Field Guide to the Flavors that Built a City, while sipping wine and nibbling small bites inspired by the book. $125, which includes a copy of the book. 319 Mid Valley Center, Carmel. ateliercarmelvalley.com. NEW YEAR, NEW BRUNCH… Patria on Main is starting the new year off strong with a new Sunday brunch offering. Every Sunday from 10am-2pm they’ll be serving a menu with favorites like eggs benedict, fresh pastries, seasonal fruit and (most excitingly) an unlimited mimosa bar—all with live music. $55; $25/children 5-12; free/ children 5 and under. 228 Main St., Salinas. (831) 424-5555, patriaonmain. com. LIKE IT HOT…It’s cocoa season, and Scoops Ice Cream Parlor has the ultimate hot cocoa offering: hot chocolate filled conchas. Picture a bread bowl, but a beautiful concha filled with cocoa to keep you warm. Stop by and try this unique seasonal offering. 595 Munras Ave., Suite 103, Monterey. instagram. com/monterey.scoops. FUNGUS AMONGUS…The Big Sur Foragers Festival is fast approaching, running Jan. 22-25. Tickets are on sale not for its most popular event (limited to 200 tickets, always sells out), but for the Fungus Face-Off, which takes place Saturday, Jan. 24 from noon-3pm. With a historic mushroom season underway, chefs will have a lot of options as they battle to create fungi-inspired dishes paired with local wines. $135. Big Sur Lodge, 47225 Highway 1, Big Sur. (831) 667-2580, bigsurforagersfestival.org. JOIN THE CLUB…Can’t get Fungus Face-Off tickets? Reservations are open now for the upcoming Solstice Supper Club series. Enjoy Saturdays the Solstice way with a different themed threecourse, family-style meal. The themes, in order, are fried chicken, fish fry, crab boil, izakaya, ramen and pig roast. The series starts Saturday, Jan. 24 and continues every Saturday through February. $100. Guests receive half-off bottles of wine for the evening. 46840 Highway 1, Big Sur. (831) 667-1700, thevillagebigsur.com/solstice. By Jacqueline Weixel MORSELS eatanddrink@montereycountynow.com Beignets are all about spontaneity. Eat them fast, regret later. EAT + DRINK DANIEL DREIFUSS Hot Stuff With several local options, there’s no need to go to New Orleans to treat oneself to a beignet. By Agata Popęda
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