They may call it Mardi Gras down in The Big Easy, but back home in Chicago it’s Pączki (POH-nch-kee) Day. It’s the day that Chicagoans of every ethnic background dive head-first into a dozen box of, you guessed it, pączki, the Polish version of jelly doughnuts. Chicago has more Poles than any other city in the world, (including all the cities in Poland, with the sole exception of Warsaw). So it’s hardly surprising that pączki are everywhere the day before Lent. And being that it’s Chicago, they’re an easy sell.
The traditional filling for pączki is something I’ve actually never tasted: a type of jam made out of rose buds. But, seeing as how the rose bud is a poor complement to a big mug of beer, we don’t go in for that sort of thing much anymore. These days it’s mostly custard, lemon filling or strawberry jam. Prunes, sometimes, but only if you head to one of the really old-school spots on the Sout-west side.
What’s the big deal with doughnuts and Fat Tuesday you say? The point, like a lot of pre-Lent Catholic pig-outs, has to do with using up all the expensive and/or indulgent foods in the house prior to the 40-plus-day fasting period. In this case that means jam, sugar and fat, most of which would have been rather hard to come by in the old country in the not-too-distant past. So…scarf’em while you got’em folks! We’ve got more than six weeks to go before we get to the chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps.
Happily scarfing here!
In Russia, they used to eat bliny with melted butter on the week before Great Lent. The idea was to use up butter, eggs and milk since these foods were not allowed in the fast.
In our local Catholic school, they eat doughnuts for Mardi Gras.
I always knew I liked the Russians. Now I’m hungry!
Thanks Ellen!
- Joe
Happy Shrove Tuesday! The English tradition is to use up all the eggs and butter making pancakes (unleavened crepe-like ones), served up with lemons and sugar – which will be dessert tonight.
What time?
- Joe
Wait, beer with doughnuts?!@#^
Don’t love it ’till you try it!
- Joe
Rose bud jam or rose hip jam?
I have wanted to make rose hip jam since I first heard of it just to see what it tastes like but I’ve never heard of rose bud jam. Not sure how tender buds would hold up to the heat of jam making.
Meanwhile, if anyone has a pound or two of pesticide-free rose hips hanging around…
You could be right on that, Rainey. In fact I suspect you are!
- Joe
I have read the Polish are quite famous for their rose petal (bud) jam. Rosehip jam I’ve eaten in an elongated croquette shaped russian type “doughnut”- a pirojka (sp?).
Interesting…I need to find out what the difference may be!
Thanks Dani!
- Joe
I have a Polish and English heritage, so today we are making homemade Paczki filled with cream. We are also making pancakes (crepes) with lemon and sugar! Gotta Love Paczki/ Shrove Tuesday!
Wish I lived in your house!
- Joe
It is rose hip jam doughnuts in Germany are filled with it and it is delicious
. It is not that hard to find in the US just check some European grocers. I actually can get a great German brand and use it instead of strawberry jam all the time
Thank you, Franziska!
- Joe
It’s Paczki Day in Detroit as well, where I grew up. After living in central KY for over a decade, I got brave a couple of years ago and made homemade mini pazcki using the bread machine to make the dough and filled them with raspberry custard. Wish I’d had time to do it this year, but I had to sort 1500 boxes of girl scout cookies instead!
I’ll be doing that myself this week! Time to deliver…
- Joe
We are loads of these at the best place in Warsaw recently…I couldn’t place what the jam was made out of, I thought it was plum with rosewater. This explains it a little better. They’re so good
I envy you, Teresa! Thanks for the note!
- Joe