Fried dough has been made all around the world. Dutch settlers who brought apple and cream pies, cookies and cobbler ( 鞋匠 ) to the New World also introduced doughnuts. Their doughnuts were called olykoeks, or oily cakes – sweet dough balls fried in pork fat. Early doughnuts were often filled with apples, prunes or raisins. The name “doughnut” may refer to the nuts put in the middle of the dough ball to prevent an uncooked center or possibly to “dough knots” – another popular shape for the olykoeks. Today, “doughnut” and “donut” are used interchangeably. There are three stories about why doughnuts have holes in the center. In 1847, Elizabeth Gregory was known for making a very fine olykoek with a hint of nutmeg and a filling of hazelnuts or walnuts. Her son, Hanson Crockett Gregory was a 16 year-old sailor who invented the doughnut hole. One story says that on June 22, 1847, Captain Gregory’s ship hit a sudden storm. He impaled ( 刺穿 ) the doughnut as a spoke ( 舵轮把柄 ) on the steering wheel to keep his hands free. The spoke drove a hole through the raw center of the doughnut. Captain Gregory liked the doughnuts better that way, and the doughnut hole was born. In the second story, he didn ’ t like nuts, so he poked them out and ordered the ship ’ s cook to remove the centers from doughnuts. The third version comes from an interview with the Captain Gregory in the Washington Post. Gregory didn't like the greasiness ( 油腻 ) of doughnuts twisted into various shapes, or the raw center of regular doughnuts. He suddenly had the idea to punch a hole with the ship's tin pepper box. When he got home, he taught this new doughnut trick to his mother.