BC-born comedian Daryn Jones has taken over the post at Donut Showdown, now airing on the Food Network (Monday, 8 pm). Currently in its second season, the Toronto-shot reality cooking show features competitors from across North America, with bakers, fine dining chefs, and home cooks all squaring off.
This season features a pair of Vancouver contestants, with dessert catering company Marked Edibles Design and Yew Seafood + Bar at the Four Seasons taking part.
WE Vancouver talked to the former MTV Live host about what makes a donut a donut, and why are they so universally loved.
Of all the foods you could have chosen to focus on, why donuts?
Its funny, because I didn't think too hard about donuts before I was asked to come on and host the second season, but what I've realized is that whether we realize it or not, donuts are a national conversation. A [donut] shop practically defines the nation. What you think of that, I'm not going to comment on, but everyone has an opinion on donuts, everyone has a favourite.
I'm a cruller guy, I like a nice simple sugary thing. Some people like Boston cream, and I think those people are weird.
In your opinion, what makes the perfect donut?
Well it's completely subjective. You have your different kinds of donuts, like your cake donut, which is your batter thrown into the frier nice and quick. Then you got your yeast donuts, that take time to rise and that's where you can put your filling in those kind of donuts.
I like a simple cake donut, I like a simple chocolate, throw it in the fryer, throw some icing on it, maybe some glaze. Boom! Nice and simple.
What defines a donut?
The donut is not defined rigidly. Is a fritter a donut? Does it have to have a hole? These are the important conversations we as a nation we need to be having.
We've had competitors try to sneak what we thought were bagels through. You can justify anything as a donut - ALMOST. Does it need to be fried or can it be raised?
I'm more modern, I'm liberal with my attitudes towards what's a donut. I'm a forward-thinker when it comes to donuts.
What's the thought process behind picking the secret ingredients the contestants must use? There's some pretty weird ones like tomato juice and barbecue pork.
It's not meant to be such a curveball that it's like, how the heck are you going to make a donut with this, but it's a different way to think about it. A donut doesn't have to be all sweet. Savoury is an important flavour when you are talking about donuts. The contestants use these ingredients completely differently each time. The trick is embracing the secret ingredient. If it's something you don't personally like, don't hide it, you've got to embrace it, make sure it works, and make it stand out.
What's the worst donut you've ever had?
Without giving too much away, there was a competitor on the show, and lets just say hygiene wasn't their most prized skill in the kitchen. And the judges, these are top professionals from across North America, and the most important thing is that you want to make sure your food is clean and safe and healthy. So they are very concerned with the workstations of these competitors. They have to be spotless. They have to clean up as they go and you don't want to contaminate any of the food. So this one competitor clearly came in with a head cold and wasn't too concerned about where his or her sneezes were going. So that was the day that I tried to avoid the donuts. But that was a big sticking point. If you're a chef, you're a baker, you're a cook, you can't let your customers get sick.
Given the recent popularity of the cronut (croissant donut), and independent donut shops like Portland's Voodoo Doughnuts becoming cultural phenomena, what do you think is responsible for this reappraisal of the donut.
You're right, donuts have moved to forefront of our collective consciousness! We are in the midst of a donut renaissance and I couldn't be happier, because I have a job where donuts are kind of the point of it all. I think the idea is, and this is just me speculating, is that the donut is simple, simple, simple. So you can do anything with it. Your ingredients, it can be anything. Your garnishes, it can be anything.
That means there a million different kinds of donuts to try.
The competitors who were successful on Donut Showdown, what did they manage to accomplish with their winning donuts?
At the end of he day, taste matters, period. And it has to be properly prepared. You don't want your cake donut to be too oily, or your yeast donut to not rise.
With the secret ingredients that we have, it's about incorporating them into the donut and not shying away. We've had chefs come on and try to out-think the donut, when really all you need to do is keep it simple. People like to eat a donut with their coffee, they want that blast of deliciousness and they don't want to think too hard about it. So some of the contestants, I think were too smart for their own good.
Donut Showdown is back for a second season this month. Tell me about the show's appeal.
It's a lot of fun. It's pretty stressful too, to watch. Even though the subject matter is fun and whimsical, these are people who really, really care about what they're doing. And that's something I found fun about it, because I'm not from the world of food, I come from the world of comedy, and I love being surrounded by people who are doing their passion. These are chefs, these are bakers, these are people who really care about how their donuts come out. Then you add the time constraints on top, and then you add the secret ingredients and it can turn into a really stressful thing and these are people who are defined by their donuts, so it was pretty tense, I'd have to say.
