If you do, and if you’ve had one, you’re part of a truly blessed part of the populace.
I write this because, for the first Fat Tuesday I can remember, I will not have a paczki. It’s bugging the hell out of me. D.C. has no Polish population to speak of. I find myself shocked when I mention them and I get weird looks. (I know they’re a little-known pleasure, but still!)
For those of you who don’t know what they are, paczkis are a Polish pastry that could be called a “jelly doughnut on steroids.” Something about the texture and taste of the dough, the quality of the filling, and the absurdly high calorie content makes them VERY different from the common doughnut and so much better.
What I would give to be in Michigan right now, munching on a Paczki and washing it down with chocolate milk.
Does anyone else know the joys of this wonderful treat? And are any of you that had NOT from Michigan?
I’m of Polish Heritage, and I’ve had these on quite a few ocassions, I’m not sure why they’re associated with Mardi Gras, but they are good!
I live In Binghamton, NY now which has a bigh Polish Enclave and these are available at all our grocery stores. Back home in Western Massachusetts, where I grew up, they were much harder to come by, usually someone would have to make them at Family Reunion time or something.
Hey SNenc, I’m sure some one could Overnight one to you…
Oddly enough, the best ones in town can be had from an Italian Bakery (BunnyGirl hightail it over to Roma Bakery on Cedar, south of Saginaw - remember where we had lunch? turn right on Cedar and swing into the left lane 'cause it comes up before you hit Shiawassi). ummmmmmmmmmm
SNenc, there are a couple more transplanted Michiganders that are bemoaning the lack of Paczki in DC. My sister has been complaining for weeks that we’re not going to be able to have any this Mardi Gras…though, in all honesty, I’ve never had one myself.
…makes me wonder whose family gatherings she’s been going to…
<singing a la “An American Tail”>
There are NOOOOOO paczi in Mis-ooo-ooo-uri!
</singing>
Another transplanter Michigander bemoaning a lack of those yummy little pseudo-doughnuts. What’s Fat Tuesday if you can’t eat at least 100 grams of saturated paczi fat?
I had one custard, one apricot. But these weren’t very good this year. We tried a new source, a fancy eastern-european restaurant. They just weren’t as good. My boss has a meeting elsewhere on campus and they’d gotten theiirs commuted in from Hamtramck, and she said they were worlds better.
They are associated with Mardi Gras sorta by accident. During Lent, good Polish bakers didn’t use the heavy cream and butter and good stuff that just makes life worth living.(Pesky Catholic Church) Instead of throwing it out the day before Lent, they turned it into the BEST DOUGHNUT EVER. In Poland Fat Tuesday is just the day before Lent. Other places (I forget where…hmmmm…) it’s Mardi Gras. Just a coincidence, but it lets people who don’t know any better savor the slice of Heaven that is a Paczki. (However you’re SUPPOSED to say it.)
The Poles also gave us the Bagel. Truely a great people.
Baltimore has a large Polish population, tho it’s not as concentrated as it used to be. There were some excellent Polish bakeries in East Bal’mer - Canton and Fells Point and thereabouts. When we were kids, Mikulski’s was our favorite - the best marshmallow buns and blueberry cake…
Pardon me while I drool…
But I don’t remember my grandmother ever buying paczki… I remember talk about them, but I don’t recall ever eating one…
Okay, this is a prime example of what the St. Paul Pioneer Press Bulletin Board jokingly calls Baader-Meinhoff Syndrome. Being Italian and living in a not-very-Polish area of Pennsylvania, I had never even heard the word paczki until I saw the title of this thread yesterday.
Then, I went to the supermarket for produce and iced tea, passed through the bakery section, and saw a display of paczki! I’ve managed to live through 29 years of never having even heard of the thing until a day ago, and suddenly it’s everywhere!
If I weren’t on a diet, Weis Market would be 3 bucks richer right now…they looked gooooood!
