Pączki
Pączki (Polish [ˈpɔnt͡ʂki] (
listen)) are pastries traditional to Polish cuisine (the word pączek is sometimes translated as doughnut). Pączki is the plural form of the Polish word pączek [ˈpɔnt͡ʂɛk], though many English speakers use paczki as singular and paczkis as plural. In English, the common pronunciation /ˈpɔːntʃki/[1] imitates the Polish pronunciation, but some speakers pronounce the word /ˈpʊntʃki/ or /ˈpʌntʃki/. The Polish word "pączek" itself is a diminutive of pąk ("plant bud").[1]
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[edit] Typical pączki
A pączek is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with confiture or other sweet filling. Pączki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing or bits of dried orange zest. A small amount of grain alcohol (traditionally, Spiritus) is added to the dough before cooking; as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough.[2]
Although they look like berliners (German name), bismarcks (south-central Canada/north-central US name), and jelly doughnuts (generic name; sometimes "jam donut"), pączki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar and sometimes milk. They feature a variety of fruit and creme fillings and can be glazed, or covered with granulated or powdered sugar. Powidła (stewed plum jam) and wild rose hip jam[2][3] are traditional fillings, but many others are used as well, including strawberry, Bavarian cream, blueberry, custard, raspberry and apple.[4]
Pączki have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages. Jędrzej Kitowicz has described that during the reign of August III, under the influence of French cooks who came to Poland, pączki dough was improved, so that pączki became lighter, spongier, and more resilient.
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Traditional Pączki serowe or Oponki
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Home-made glazed pączki.
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Assorted pączki in the United States
[edit] Pączki Day
In Poland, pączki are eaten especially on Fat Thursday (the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday). Many Polish Americans celebrate Pączki Day on Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday). Traditionally, the reason for making pączki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, because they were forbidden to be consumed due to Catholic fasting practices during Lent.
In the large Polish community of Chicago, and other large cities across the Midwest, Pączki Day is celebrated annually by immigrants and locals alike. In Buffalo, Toledo, Delta, Ohio, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, South Bend, and Windsor, Pączki Day is more commonly celebrated on Fat Tuesday instead of Fat Thursday. Chicago celebrates the festival on both Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesday, due to its sizable Polish population. Chicagoans also often eat paczki on Casimir Pulaski Day.
In Hamtramck, Michigan, an enclave of Detroit, there is an annual Pączki Day (Shrove Tuesday) Parade,[4] which has gained a devoted following. In the Metro Detroit area, it is so widespread throughout the region that many bakeries have line-ups for pączki on Pączki Day.[citation needed] The Pączki Day celebrations in some areas are even larger than many celebrations for St. Patrick's Day.[citation needed] In some areas Pączki Day is celebrated with pączki-eating contests. The eating contest in Evanston, Illinois, started in 2010. Hamtramck's contest started in 2001. Both are held on the weekends closest to Fat Tuesday.
[edit] Pączki in the United States
These pastries have become popular in the United States as a result of Polish immigrants and marketing by the bakery industry. They are particularly popular in areas where there is a large concentration of Polish immigrants. In the Boston area, Detroit area, Chicago and Northern Illinois, Northwest Indiana and Southeastern Wisconsin they can regularly be found in supermarkets.
[edit] Pączki in Israel
Polish Jews fried pączki (Yiddish: פּאָנטשקעס , pontshkes) in oil, and ate them on Hanukkah, following the tradition of eating food cooked in oil on Hanukkah. The custom of eating fried filled pastries was imported to Israel and spread to other Jews, who know them by their Modern Hebrew name, סופגניות, sufganiyot (singular: סופגניה, sufganiyah).[5]
[edit] Pączki derivatives
In other Slavonic countries, a meal synonymous with pączki appears in the local cuisines whose name is derived from the same etymology as pączki:[citation needed]
- Russia: ponchiki (Russian: пончики, plural form of пончик, ponchik) or pyshki (Russian: пышки, especially in St. Petersburg). Ponchiki are a very popular sweet doughnut, with many fast and simple recipes available in Russian cookbooks for making them at home as a breakfast or coffee pastry.[6]
- Ukraine: pampushky (Ukrainian: пампушки)
In neighboring countries to Poland there are also:
- Czech Republic: koblihy, the Czech word for doughnuts (the toroidal ring doughnut being practically unknown until the Velvet Revolution, fall of Communism and opening of the borders)[clarification needed]
- Lithuania: spurgos[clarification needed]
- Slovakia: šišky, the Slovak word for doughnuts (the toroidal ring doughnut being practically unknown until the Velvet Revolution, fall of Communism and opening of the borders)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b pączki Dictionary.com. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Strybel, Robert and Strybel, Maria. Polish Heritage Cookery, Hippocrene Books (2005). p. 270.
- ^ Paczki? Hard to say, culinary Lenten treat made by nuns. Catholic News Service. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Pączki Day in Hamtramck
- ^ Roden, Claudia (1996). The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
- ^ Recipes for Russian and other ponchiki (Russian).
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pączki |
- Pączki Day PSA, an account of Detroit area Pączki Day traditions in 2008
