Pączki are
traditional pastries in Polish cuisine. Although they look like
German berliners,
North
American bismarcks or jelly
doughnuts,
pączki are made from dough containing eggs, sugar, yeast, fats and sometimes
milk.
The Polish
word pączki /ˈpɔːntʃki/
is the plural form of the Polish word pączek [ˈpɔnt͡ʂɛk]. Pączek itself is a diminutive
of pąk. In other Slavonic countries, pączki also
appear in the cuisine but are called a bit different (or maybe actually
similar): Russia: ponchiki;
Bulgaria: ponichki,
Ukraine: pampushky. In some other countries we can
find: ponchik in
Armenia, koblihy in Czech
Republic, munkki in
Finland, spurgos in
Lithuania, šišky in Slovakia
and sufganiyah in Israel.
In Poland pączki are
usually eaten on Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday and the
beginning of Lent. Pączki have been known in
Poland already since Middle Ages as one of the Polish historians described them
during the reign of August III. So why exactly people
did pączki in particular? According to the
tradition for making them people had to use lard, sugar, eggs and fruit because
their consumption was forbidden by Catholic fasting practices during
Lent. Pączki became lighter, spongier and more
resilent thanks to the influence of French cooks who had come to
Poland.
Pączki are slightly
flattened pieces of dough (wheat flour) fried in deep fat till they reach the
color of dark or light gold. Traditionally they are stuffed with jam or jelly
before frying. Ready pączki are usually covered
with powdered sugar, icing, glaze, candied orange peel or clearing chocolate. Of
course you can buy pączki in a confectionery but the best ones
are homemade!
Mmmm… PYSZNE!
🙂
Photos by: Silar, Rmhermen, MOs810, Aw58
Beata Jaranowska