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Pączki (; : pączek, ; ; Old Polish and ) are filled found in Polish cuisine.
Although they look like German berliners (bismarcks in North America) or , pączki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, Cooking fat, sugar, yeast, and sometimes milk. They feature a variety of fruit and creme fillings and can be glazed, or covered with granulated sugar or powdered sugar. Powidła (stewed plum jam) and Rosa canina petal jam are traditional fillings, but many others are used as well, including strawberry, Bavarian cream, blueberry, custard, raspberry, and apple.
Pączki have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages. Jędrzej Kitowicz wrote that during the reign of Augustus III, under the influence of French cooks who came to Poland, pączki dough was improved so that pączki became lighter, spongier, and more resilient.
English speakers typically use the plural form of the Polish word in both singular and plural. They pronounce it as and often write it as "paczki", i.e., without the ogonek (hook-shaped diacritic). This should not be confused with the unrelated Polish word paczki , which is the plural form of paczka , meaning "package" or "parcel".
| + Fat Thursday versus Fat Tuesday | ||||||
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Fat Thursday ( Tłusty Czwartek) | Friday | Saturday |
| Monday | Fat Tuesday (Pączki Day) | Ash Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |
| { class="wikitable" | ||||||
| Carnival | Lent |
In Poland, pączki are eaten especially on Fat Thursday (Tłusty Czwartek), the last Thursday prior to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. The traditional reason for making pączki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, because their consumption was forbidden by Christian fasting practices during the season of Lent.
In North America, particularly the large Polish diaspora of Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and other large cities across the Midwest and Northeast, Paczki Day is celebrated annually by immigrants and locals alike. The date of this observance merges with that of pre-Lenten traditions of other immigrants ( e.g., Pancake Day, Mardi Gras) on Fat Tuesday. With its sizable Polish population, Chicago celebrates the festival on both Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesday. Pączki are also often eaten on Casimir Pulaski Day. In Buffalo, Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, St. Louis, South Bend, Louisville, and Windsor, Pączki Day is celebrated on Fat Tuesday.
The Pączki Day celebrations in some areas are even larger than many celebrations for St. Patrick's Day. In Hamtramck, Michigan, an enclave of Detroit, there is an annual Pączki Day (Shrove Tuesday) Parade, which has gained a devoted following. Throughout the Metro Detroit area, it is so widespread that many bakeries attract lines of customers for pączki on Pączki Day. In suburban Cleveland, Eastern European bakery Rudy's Strudel hosts a large indoor and outdoor Paczki Day party in conjunction with neighboring record store, The Current Year. It is called "the Mardi Gras of the Midwest".
In some areas, Pączki Day is celebrated with pączki-eating contests.
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