P?czki Day in Hamtramck
Did you know that March 8, 2011, is P?czki Day in Hamtramck, Michigan?
P?czki are traditional Polish doughnuts. To be specific, p?czki is the plural form of the word p?czek in Polish, but many English speakers use paczki as singular and paczkis as plural. A p?czek is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with plums or other sweet filling. Another traditional filling is marmalade made from fried rose buds.
Fresh p?czki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing or bits of fried orange zest. (You may know them better as bismarcks or jelly-filled doughnuts, the more commonly used names for the pastry in the United States.)
The traditional reason for making p?czki since Medieval times has been to use up all the lard, sugar and fruit in the house — which are forbidden by the Roman Catholic church during Lent. P?czki are traditionally enjoyed on Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent.
Note: Fat Thursday — T?usty czwartek in Polish — is not to be confused with Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday. In Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and South Bend, P?czki Day is more commonly celebrated on Fat Tuesday instead of Fat Thursday (confused yet, Road Trips Foodies?).