Paczki Day in Poland

Tommorow is Fat Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday, or the French Mardi Gras), which marks the last day before Lent on the Christian calendar. Carnival ends tomorrow, and all of the partying in New Orleans will end as well.

The name Shrove Tuesday evolved from the practice of "shriving" (purification through confession). There are other names for this day. Pennsylvania Dutch call it Fasnacht, where adults and children eat fasnacht kuchen, a doughnut with a slit in the middle, raised without yeast. Another traditional food is pancakes At Fasnacht, Pennsylvania Dutch children get up early to avoid being the last one out of bed. Adults and children eat fasnacht kuchen, traditionally a rectangular doughnut with a slit in the middle, raised without yeast. Pancakes are another traditional food on Fat Tuesday, baked to use up the cooking fats forbidden during Lent.

For Polish-Americans, Paczki Day means eating paczki, jelly-filled buns. In Poland, they actually celebrate what they call Tlusty Czwartek, "Fat Thursday", celebrated the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. The foods eaten during the celebration and Poland are different in some way, but both Polish citizens and Polish-Americans enjoy paczki.