Malasada

About Dish

A legacy of Portuguese settlers, the malasada is a fritter made either as a sphere like a holeless donut or stretched out flat like a pancake, cooked in hot oil until golden brown then coated with powdered sugar and served, preferably, while still warm. Malasadas are available year around in bakeries; but as home-cooked food, they most often will be found in observant Catholic kitchens at Mardi Gras time. The point of making them before Lent was to use up all the lard and sugar on hand. In Hawaii, Fat Tuesday is known as Malasada Day.