Ode to a fried donut

Beignets.

Or as my friend Shawn calls them, ben-it-is-yays. I think I like that better. Because the beignet is, in fact, YAY.

I first had a real beignet at the best place in the world to get them, Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. The order was handed to us in a paper bag loaded with about 3 1/2 pounds of powdered sugar...most of which ended up on my face and clothes and the floor. I actually think there is someone employed full time just to continually sweep. The experience was, in a word, awesome.

While at this fine, powdery establishment, I bought a box of the beignet mix for myself...thinking, "Oh yes. I'm good. I can deep fry dough with the best of them." Yeah. I so can't. But I can sure make a big fat mess.

Distraught with my total failure of being able to reproduce the beignet, I began my quest to find a place that served them so I could experience the joy again. "How hard could that be?" I said...foolishly.

Okay, a lot of nice Cajun/New Orleans style restaurants serve beignets as a dessert. With toppings. On a plate. This is so very wrong. They're too snooty. Too fancy. Too devoid of powdered sugar. Beignets were intended to be a breakfast food. They are, at their most basic, a fried donut. DONUT. That means breakfast. Not dessert.

I soldiered on.

And then...I found them. At the most unlikeliest of places. Downtown Disney in Anaheim, California. That's right. Disney. Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen Express to be exact. They do it right. All the way down to the paper bag and powdered sugar. Oh. They are JOY. My sole purpose in ever going to Downtown Disney is to savor, let's face it, one of the world's most perfect foods.

Tonight, my friend Amy and I decided to have the ben-it-is-yays for our appetizer prior to dining at the Rainforest Cafe. It was a fantastic move, and the folks at the Jazz Kitchen Express gave us 2 bonus beignets (see photo above)! Could it get any better? When I grabbed the bag from the cashier, I could feel the warmth of the fried dough penetrating through. I barely made it to the table before diving in. I shook the bag, and stuck my hand in to retrieve the tasty goodness. There was powdered sugar everywhere, and it was heaven.

So kids, let this be a lesson. Beignets are best served warm, out of a paper bag, with tons and tons of powdered sugar. If someone tries to serve them to you on a plate with dipping sauces, run the other way...tell them you've got Disneyitis and need to make a run to Anaheim (or Florida...they have them there too). It's for the best.