Day 47: February 16, 2010

Pączki Time!

Today's photos have zero photographic merit.  Shooting quickly in a line of hungry people under florescent lighting is not conducive to quality photos.  However, I couldn't resist taking a picture of the happy, Polish-flag-waving pastry advertising that today is Fat Tuesday.  

Pączki (pronounced roughly, POONSCH-KE) are a Polish tradition that Toledo has embraced wholeheartedly.  Today is the last day before Lent, the time of fasting before Easter for Catholics. Toledo has a large Catholic population, as well as a large Polish-American population.  The traditional baking of these lard-laden treats is done down in the Polish Village.  The other source of "authentic" pączki is a bakery right down the street from my house.  The cars line up down the busy street from 6:00 am until they run out.  When we got there today at 4:30, they'd only run out of custard filled, and the line of cars showed no signs of slowing down.

Traditional pączki are either not filled or are filled with a prune filling.  Today, in Toledo, the tradition has expanded to meet more American tastes.  The available fillings are listed in the sign below.  See if you can spot the TWO errors in this sign:

 

 

OK, the first is obvious - the apostrophe has no business being there! The second is obvious only if you know your Polish.  Pączki is already plural! It doesn't need an "s" either!  If you are only indulging in ONE pastry, you would write pączek, and pronounce it POON-check.  This is not something I was aware of until last year when a friend of Polish descent enlightened me!

So what exactly IS a pączek?  Essentially, a large, filled (or not) doughnut.  Here in Toledo, we cover them in powdered sugar.  Another friend of Polish descent tells me her grandmother NEVER covered them in sugar when she made them at home.  Regardless, they are delicious, fattening, and a Fat Tuesday tradition!  Below is a shot of a tray of pączki at the bakery. I think these may have been blueberry.