Paczki

Pączki (pronounced: PONCH-key) are traditional Polish doughnuts. Pączki is the plural form of the word pączek in Polish, but many English speakers use paczki as singular and paczkis as plural.

A pączek is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and injected with jam or another sweet filling. The traditional filling is marmalade made from fried rose buds. Fresh pączki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing or bits of fried orange zest.

Traditionally, the reason for making pączki is that all the lard, sugar, and fruit in the house would need to be used up before Lent. They are eaten especially on Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent.

Polish emigrants have popularized this kind of doughnuts in some parts of the United States. Here, prunes are considered the traditional filling, but many other are used as well, including lemon, Bavarian cream, or raspberry. Due to French influence, paczki are eaten on Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) rather than on Fat Thursday. In the Polish community at Hamtramck (near Detroit) an American style Paczki Day Parade is organized annually on Mardi Gras.

See also:

• Carnival
• Polish cuisine