The meaning behind pączki
Feasting on Polish donuts on Fat Tuesday
It’s perhaps the most wonderful time of the year: Pączki time!
While some communities already kicked it off on Fat Thursday, for others the first big day is Fat Tuesday, commonly known as Mardi Gras. For us elementary Catholics, Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Fat Tuesday is exactly that - a day of indulgence! It’s a day of feasting - of using up all the sugar, dairy, and fat and eating the resulting treats before Lenten fasting begins.
And that’s where our beloved pączki come in: Pączki were a celebratory way for Poles to put the sugar, lard, eggs, and milk to use before buckling down ahead of Easter.
By the way: It’s pronounced “pahn-shki”! Paczki is plural and the singular is pączek. The word derives from the word meaning, “round and about to burst”, like a bud.
Pączki are traditionally filled with jams like plum, blueberry, raspberry, or even rose jam, as well as custard or buttercream. As time goes on, bakeries have gotten even more creative with flavors like Maple Bacon, Snickers, Marshmallow, Pina Colada, or even savory fillings like sauerkraut and kielbasa or bacon, egg, and cheese. They are often covered in powdered or granulated sugar.
When compared with a jelly donut, pączki dough is much richer, full of eggs, sugar, fats, and milk. A touch of vodka is also often added to the dough to prevent the oil from seeping too far into the pastry when fried. A trademark of the pączki is the light dough ring around the outside, which indicates they’ve been fried in fresh oil.
Just with pierogi, you’ll find different twists and variations with every bakery. In the Boston area, you’ll find the traditional pączki form with fillings ranging from rose to raspberry to Maple Bacon at DJ’s Delicatessen in Dorchester. They make the Polish donuts all year round, but take pre-orders for Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesday. Meanwhile, in Salem at Coffee Time Bakery, you’ll find a lighter pączki version that more closely resemble a bismarck. These donuts are sliced in half and filled with buttercream and jam, instead of being filled like you would see a jelly jonut. No matter the spin on this Polish favorite, everyone truly wins on Pączki Day.