Sinful circles

Congdon’s doughnuts could make a good Christian bad

By Jill Strauss

Congdon’s Doughnuts Family Restaurant & Bakery, 1090 Post Road, Wells, (207) 646-4219.

Now open Fri. through Sun. from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. As of April 15 open Wed. through Mon. from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

DUNK THIS: Congdon’s doughnuts, fried in animal fat, are not for the faint of heart.

Every once in a while, I think it’s good to deny yourself something that you really want. Sacrifice builds character. It also makes you really appreciate the thing you are relinquishing. This is why I admire my friends who are forgoing their favorite foodstuffs for Lent. One has bid farewell to chocolate. Another has renounced nuts. Although I am not a Christian, I am concerned about fitting into my bathing suit this summer, so I have decided to join my faithful friends during this season of self-denial and surrender something sinfully delicious: doughnuts.

I’m not talking about the perfectly shaped, prettily decorated, imitation sinkers produced by Dunkin’ Donuts. Giving up these flavorless orbs would be no hardship for me. I’m talking about authentic doughnuts, made with respect for old-fashioned traditions. I mean confections that are crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, and rich in flavor. I mean doughnuts deep-fried in lard (Food TV Star Chef Emeril Lagasse’s favorite ingredient) or beef tallow (the provocative shortening that made McDonald’s French Fries irresistible to everyone but vegetarians and health food freaks).

This confession makes me tremble a little bit because I know that saturated fat is considered by medical researchers to be the enemy of arteries, and I do care about mine, but every once in a while I crave a cruller and when that mad mood strikes, I’ll risk anything for taste. Fat affects not only the flavor, but also the color and texture of doughnuts, and this fact becomes extremely apparent if you compare doughnuts fried in vegetable oil with doughnuts fried in animal fat.

Christopher Kimball, who likes to extensively test things even when he’s home on his farm in Vermont instead of at his professional test kitchen at Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, tried his own experiments on doughnuts. He found that he liked the combination of Crisco and lard since the lard alone had too “meaty” a flavor for his palate. I have made Kimball’s buttermilk doughnuts (see page 236 of his cookbook: The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook) fried in the fat combination he suggests and the results are a good, substantial, country doughnut. Sometimes, however, I want a poofy yeast-raised doughnut, and that’s when I head for Congdon’s Doughnuts Family Restaurant and Bakery in Wells.

All 35 of Congdon’s doughnuts are tasty, but I have a special fondness for their raspberry jelly doughnuts, their honey buns, their maple crèmes, and their apple fritters. They are sugary pillows that collapse softly in my mouth. Though the maple flavoring is imitation and the apples come from a can, the texture of the doughnuts is so seductive, and the crystallized glaze that coats them all is so delightful, that I forgive the artificial components. I also love the good karma I feel whenever I walk into Congdon’s.

If my luck is good, I’ll get to the 120-seat eatery before 9 a.m. The problem with getting there after 9, even in February, when tourists rarely dare to visit Southern Maine, is that there’s almost always a 30-minute wait. This is not altogether a bad thing. Waiting means I get a sustained whiff of freshly cooked doughnuts, a sweet, oily fragrance that makes me giddy with excitement. Most people know that the aroma emanates from the in-house bakery where most of the doughnuts have been fried in beef tallow. John Brown Jr., a mason who has been coming to Congdon’s since 1956 (the restaurant opened in Wells in 1955), assured me last week while sipping his coffee in a booth with his son and son-in-law that everybody knows animal fat is the secret to successful doughnuts. “You can’t make a good-tasting, healthy doughnut so Congdon’s doesn’t even try . . . They use the good stuff.”

If the anticipation is too much, I can always go to the take-out counter and order a honey hole to accompany my cup of complimentary coffee. Once I am seated inside the restaurant, the wait staff is down-to-earth, enthusiastic about the food (especially the main attraction), and very accommodating. And if I’m not indulging in a doughnut, which is a heartbreaking thought, I can order the outrageously caloric and absolutely splendid ham and cheese strata for breakfast, or the lobster served on a grilled homemade bun. (There are lots of other choices, but these are two of my favorites.)

Recently, I asked Gary Leech, the nephew of Herb Brooks, who was the son-in-law and partner of Dot Congdon (the originator of Congdon’s doughnut recipe), what the future holds for Congdon’s. He told me that the kitchen and pastry areas will be expanded and a new drive-through window will be added in April.

“What about the beef tallow?” I asked him. Would you ever consider exchanging it for vegetable oil?

“Never!” he responded emphatically. “That’s what distinguishes us from the competition.”

Leech is right, of course. And now that my article is done, I swear I will abstain from fried dough until Easter ends. I know I can do it. Especially since I never said I would give up hot cross buns and, during the Lenten season, you can always get a heavenly one at Congdon’s.

Jill Strauss can be reached at straussj@adelphia.net.