Yesterday was Tłusty Czwartek, “Fat Thursday.” In Poland, it’s traditionally a time for pączki, doughnuts. “Ile pączków zjedliście?” asked a friend in Poland of his Facebook friends. How many doughnuts did we eat? On Thursday we ate none. Dunkin Dounuts and Krispy Kreme don’t count. They’re doughnuts, not pączki. Traditionally filled with rose petal jam, Polish pączki really look, smell, and taste nothing like what we usually get in the South.
And then K discovered that Publix — of all places — sells “Original Pączki.”
They’re filled with raspberry jam instead of the ineffably good rose jam, and there’s something not quite right about the consistency of the crust, but they’re an acceptable substitute for a mid-sized Southern town.
L had one for dinner. “It’s time she learned what ‘Fat Thursday’ is all about,” proclaimed K. For her part, L was less interested in the doughnut than the filling, which she fingered out and declared to be delicious.