NORTHEAST OHIO !!...........
Paczki, pronounced PUNCH-key, are
Polish jelly-filled doughnuts,
traditionally served just prior to
Lent. In Northeast Ohio, these
delicious confections can be found
in the bakeries of Slavic Village
and other Eastern European food
stores in late March and early
April. Paczki are flattened
sphere-shaped deep-fried dough
pieces that are filled with lemon,
plum, cherry, and other flavored
jam. The paczki are finished with a
sprinkling of powdered sugar. They
may be iced or uniced. Paczki
originated in Poland in the Middle
Ages,during the reign of August
III, who invited French cooks to
work at his castle Paczki Day in
Cleveland: Paczki Day precedes the
beginning of Lent, and the baking
of paczki is traditionally a way to
use up all of the fat, sugar, and
fruit in the house--things
forbidden during the strict Polish
Lenten season. In Poland, Paczki
Day, the day when all of the last
paczki are consumed is the Thursday
before Ash Wednesday. In Cleveland
and the rest of the Midwest, Paczki
Day is celebrated on Fat Tuesday,
the day before Ash
Wednesday...............