It was a surprise to discover that today was Fat Thursday. I knew next Tuesday was Fat Tuesday, but I guess we needed another fat day as well.
Fat Thursday marks the start of the final week before Lent. And since you were supposed to be giving up things like fat and sugar and foods like that, I guess the idea was to eat all the fattening things before Lent arrived. That seems to be the idea behind Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras. But I guess there were too many fattening foods around, so people had to start cleaning them up earlier. So Fat Thursday was to warn people to start eating up all the fattening foods in the house.
Somewhere back in the middle ages, a king in Poland decided to get in on the act. He had French pastry chefs brought in to make a few pastries for the occasion. The result was the packzi.
According to the package I found sitting on my kitchen counter this morning, the pronunciation of packzi is more like punch-key. However you say it, they’re tasty.
They’re a filled donut. Covered in powdered sugar. Or a glaze. Or orange zest. Or a combination of all of those things. The pazkzi I have devoured over the last few years have been sort of like a cake donut. Not, as my mother would say, a riz donut. Although I suppose a Boston Cream would pass for the purpose of celebrating the day.
According to the recipes I have seen, there was supposed to be a tiny amount of alcohol in the mix, which would prevent the donut from soaking up too much oil while being fried. But over time, packzi have evolved to include a number of different fillings. I have tried a few and I have not managed to find one I don’t like yet.
But it is only in recent years that I have seen these little delights popping up around here. And I had no idea the day even existed. But it certainly is worth celebrating. Even if I don’t tend to mark Lent in any way, I can still go for a packzi. Or two. Or more.
It’s hard to eat just one.
