Pączki

Illustration from a 1908 Polish cookbook

Pączki are Polish doughnuts in the shape of a flattened ball, filled with marmalade and deep-fried in lard or other fat. They are most abundantly consumed on Fat Thursday (six days before Ash Wednesday) in Poland or on Fat Tuesday (also known as Paczki Day, the day before Ash Wednesday) among Polish Americans and Polish Canadians.

Presentation

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  With icing
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  With icing and candied orange peel
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  With icing and candied orange peel
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  Dusted with powdered sugar
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  Dusted with powdered sugar
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  Some with icing, some with powdered sugar
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  One cut open to reveal the filling

Production

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  Filling (Warsaw 1978)
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  Frying (Warsaw 1978)
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  Frying

Vending

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  A street vendor with a basket of pączki (Warsaw 1934)
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  An employee of the Blikle pastry shop carrying a platter of pączki (Warsaw, 1970s)
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  At a Polish pastry shop
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  At a Polish pastry shop
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  At a Polish pastry shop
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  A package of U.S.-made pączki
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  U.S.-made pączki with their packaging

Fat Thursday

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  A baker with a platter of pączki and a fisherman with a bunch of herrings, representing carnival and Lent, respectively (Warsaw 1868)
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  People lining up for pączki (Warsaw 1974)