Posted on 03/01/2022 6:53:38 AM PST by NOBO2012
Today is Fat Tuesday: the day before Lent begins. Depending on where you hail from the day of debauchery is known as Mardi Gras, Carnevale, Carnival, Fasching.
As we’ve discussed before, in Detroit it’s known as Paczki Day. There was a time not so long ago that if you didn’t live in Detroit or Chicago or another city with a sizable Poletown you would have never heard of the paczki. It was made just once a year and could only be snagged from authentic Polish bakeries such as Hamtramck’s New Palace, where people still wait in long lines for the real deal.
The Paczki line
But since the dawn of the internet the popularity of this legendary pre-lenten doughnut with the unpronounceable name has spread far and wide. Every supermarket bakery and donut shop saw a golden marketing opportunity and hence rebranded their filled donuts as “Paczki” for a month either side of Ash Wednesday.
Grocery store donuts are NOT real paczki, no matter what the box they pack them in says.
Real,authentic paczki are made just once a year. They are made with eggs, flour, lard and grain alcohol mixed into fruit fillings like cherry, raspberry, apricot or – most traditional of all, prunes, now marketed as ‘plum filling’ by the fake paczki bakeries. They are topped with with sugar – granulated or powdered – or glazed with icing. In time New World flavors such as custard, chocolate and lemon were added to the repertoire.
Authentic Paczki
As the popularity of the pre-Lenten treat spread, so did the spin-offs and charlatans. Everything from Paczki Day vodka
to Detroit’s American Coney Island paczki dogs.
Now, for a little coaching on proper pronunciation: A singular donut is a pączek, pronounced “poon-check.” Pączki is plural and pronounced “poonch-key” because Americans have a very difficult time with the actual Polish pronunciation which is more like “pownch-key.” But according to comments on this helpful guide, none of this is definitive.
Regardless of how you pronounce them, or whether they are authentic or not, get yourself out there and snag some delicious paczki – or a king cake if you happen to live near the epicenter of Mardi Gras in this country.
Savor your sweets today as Lent begins tomorrow. And remember: Lent is God’s way of giving you a second crack at your New Year’s resolutions. Alternatively you could follow JohnS’ lead and give up your New Year’s Resolutions for Lent. It’s all good!
Post Script:
Paczkis? What paczkis?
Posted from: MOTUS A.D.
Gained a pound of weight just skimming through the pictures. Looks yummy. Bride back on her Whole Thirty diet today.
I'm also wondering if there are any Polish bakeries in town. So far I'm resisting the urge to Google it... But it's only been 2 min since I read this.
I’m on the hook for next year’s King cake.
I got the baby in my slice.
Go for it.
I thought she was Biden’s press secretary
Powidl is cooked for several hours, in order to achieve the necessary sweetness and consistency. The plums used should be harvested as late as possible, ideally after the first frosts, in order to ensure they contain enough sugar.
In Austria, Moravia and Bohemia, powidl is the basis for Buchteln, powidl cake and Germknödel, but it is also used as a sandwich spread. Powidl will keep for a long time, especially if kept in traditional crockery.
Traditionally, large amounts of powidl to be used as a winter store and natural sweetener were prepared in late autumn during a communal event. Since constantly stirring the stew was exhausting work, people took turns, and did easier work in between turns. The Czech term povidla is plural only (the Polish word powidła as well).
More anglicized - povidla - plum jam.
.
I’ve got garaczki in front of me now.
Here in Pennsylvania dutch country, we have fastnacht day. Fastnachts are donuts made with bread dough. It’s always the day before Lent. I don’t know how the tradition began, but I suspect that Mardigras is a lot more fun.
I’ve already had my paczki today. Apple cream cheese. It’s pronounced more like ponchos, but I’m not Polish.
I’ve put away about a dozen of the bloody things already! They’ve been available for a couple of weeks.0
Poonchki. Auto correct, sorry.
Must head up to my favorite Polish market in Boston to see if they have any left. On an average day they are cleaned out.
I used to work at Czech and Polish festivals and as the boss (who was one) liked to say “C’mon’ these Pollacks really know how to eat!”
“Gained a pound of weight just skimming through the pictures.”
Me, too! *YUM*
Had mine today.
I saw the King Cakes being sold at my discount Grocery Store in Warrington, Florida, and I simply thought they were pretty neat, and so big that I couldn’t eat one in one sitting. I had no idea they were related to Mardi Gras. In fact, I had no idea that Pensacola even celebrated Mardi Gras. I’m learning something new down here every day!
I’m on the hook for next year’s King cake.
I got the baby in my slice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have a family member who works at a hospital and got the piece of cake with the baby. LOL they thought it was a mistake—something mistakenly fallen into the batter? They had not heard of the tradition.
But they will take the good will and blessings that come from God associated with the tradition since hospital is terminating them for not taking the clot shot...They could use some blessing.
Also, since they are being terminated, the hospital will have to find someone else to get the cake next year.
In addition, the department is putting them on schedule after their termination date...Could be a problem for the department since family member is a lead and it took time to recruit/hire...
I never heard of these until moving way up north yo the Michigan state line. Near South Bend, big Polish community. Every grocery has every flavor of paczki, even prune/plum. Sometimes multi-culturalism ain’t so bad!
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