Paczki Day (aka Fat Tuesday) may sound like an excuse to grab a dozen doughnuts, but it is so much more. The paczki is a Polish doughnut: fried dough filled with fruit preservatives or sweet cream and topped with powdered sugar or glaze. Lest you be wondering, About.com's Guide to Eastern European Food has a video demonstrating how to make a paczki.
Fat Tuesday History
Historically, Fat Tuesday was an opportunity for Polish Catholics to eat all the sugar, eggs and lard in their house before Lent. Whether Catholic or not, however, Detroiters know a good holiday when they taste it and head to Hamtramck -- the city that made Fat Tuesday a week-long holiday -- to celebrate. In addition to standing in line at one of Hamtramck’s many Polish bakeries to gorge themselves, Detroiters can attend several Paczki-related events: No events listed as of this writing.
For better or worse, paczki have become so popular that local supermarkets such as Kroger and Busch's carry them, which makes it way too easy to get a hold of a box. The question is whether the Hamtramck paczki makes it worth the trip.
What do you think?
