Peek at Poland: Time to Make the Pączki


“Polish Doughnuts” by Polska*ポーランド*Poland

For at least one moment in the dark days of winter, life is sweet in Poland. Marking the last Thursday before Lent, Tłusty czwartek (or, Fat Thursday) is a day of over-indulgence in sweets.

This past Thursday, in scenes disturbingly reminiscent of Communist days, the local sweet shops and bakeries were full of people, lining up to get their hands on the source of sweetness and symbol of this special day – the traditional Polish doughnut, or pączki. Unfortunately, by lunch break, our local bakery was sold out already!


Typical sight in Poland on Fat Thursday, Wikipedia

Interestingly, each country has its own way of marking the last day before Lent: in Greece, instead of sweets, they eat loads of meat on Tsiknopempti. In Latin and South America, they celebrate in a more dynamic way with the Carnival.

How does your country mark the start of Lent? Do you sit in a sweet shop and gorge yourself on baker's delights or do you take to the streets?

4 comments

  • kaori

    Czesc Jordan,
    Thanks a lot for using my photo!and I had a interest in your post.
    We Japanese usually don’t have such events for Lent,so Tlusty czwartek was a good experience for me:)
    I’m looking forward to your next post too.

  • Kaori, we will definitely keep an eye on your blog for interesting photos. thanks!

  • Lars-Gunnar Jakobsson

    Hallo there!
    In Sweden we celebrate not the Thursday but the Tuesday before Lent. Om Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) we eat so called “Semlor”, that is buns with lots of whipped cream and almond paste. But in fact we have been able to buy “Semlor” since Christmas and even before. But originally those should be eaten just on “Fat Tuesday”.
    Sincerely Lars-Gunnar Jakobsson

  • That sounds pretty delicious! Anything sweet really is a good bet before Lent….i didn’t think sweden was a religious country, excuse my ignorance, it’s just what i have read and heard…do you have a sizeable christian community there? i had a professor from sween, sve, he absolutely loved crayfish and schnapps…this is a delicacy there? thansk for the comment….from warsaw, jordan and maria

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