(; : , ; ; Old Polish and ) are filled doughnuts found in Polish cuisine.
A pÃÂ czek is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened ball and filled with confiture or other sweet filling. PÃÂ czki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing, glaze, or bits of dried orange zest. A small amount of grain alcohol (traditionally rectified spirit) is added to the dough before cooking; as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough. PÃÂ czki are commonly thought of as fluffy but somewhat collapsed, with a bright stripe around them; these features are seen as evidence that the dough was fried in fresh oil.
Although they look like German berliners (bismarcks in North America) or jelly doughnuts, pàczki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar, yeast, and sometimes milk. They feature a variety of fruit and creme fillings and can be glazed, or covered with granulated or powdered sugar. Powidà Âa (stewed plum jam) and wild rose petal jam are traditional fillings, but many others are used as well, including strawberry, Bavarian cream, blueberry, custard, raspberry, and apple.
have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages. JÃÂdrzej Kitowicz wrote that during the reign of Augustus III, under the influence of French cooks who came to Poland, pÃÂ czki dough was improved so that pÃÂ czki became lighter, spongier, and more resilient.
The Polish word (plural: ) is a diminutive of the Polish word "bud". The latter derives from Proto-Slavic , which may have referred to anything that is round, bulging, and about to burst (compare Proto-Slavic "to swell, burst"), possibly of ultimately onomatopoeic origin.
Several other Slavic languages have borrowed from the original Polish, where the respective loanwords (, , or ) refer to a similar ball-shaped pastry.
English has borrowed the plural form of the Polish word for both the singular and the plural, writing it as "" (i.e., without the ogonek, the hook-shaped diacritic). English speakers typically pronounce it as . Note that the English spelling should not be confused with the unrelated Polish word , which is the plural form of , meaning "package" or "parcel".
In Poland, are eaten especially on Fat Thursday (), the last Thursday prior to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. The traditional reason for making pÃÂ czki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, because their consumption was forbidden by Christian fasting practices during the season of Lent.
In North America, particularly the large Polish communities of Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and other large cities across the Midwest and Northeast, Paczki Day is celebrated annually by immigrants and locals alike. The date of this observance merges with that of pre-Lenten traditions of other immigrants (e.g., Pancake Day, Mardi Gras) on Fat Tuesday. With its sizable Polish population, Chicago celebrates the festival on both Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesday. PÃÂ czki are also often eaten on Casimir Pulaski Day. In Buffalo, Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, St. Louis, South Bend, Louisville, and Windsor, PÃÂ czki Day is celebrated on Fat Tuesday.
In Hamtramck, Michigan, an enclave of Detroit, there is an annual PÃÂ czki Day (Shrove Tuesday) Parade, which has gained a devoted following. Throughout the Metro Detroit area, it is so widespread that many bakeries attract lines of customers for pÃÂ czki on PÃÂ czki Day. In suburban Cleveland, Eastern European bakery Rudy's Strudel hosts a large indoor and outdoor Paczki Day party in conjunction with neighboring record store, The Current Year. It is called "the Mardi Gras of the Midwest".
In some areas, PÃÂ czki Day is celebrated with pÃÂ czki-eating contests.