Happy Fat Tuesday everyone!
We’ve arrived at the day before Lent, where everyone loses their minds and indulges before 40 days of meatless Mondays and fish fry Fridays. Chicago, while having faith from all corners of the world, is an incredibly Catholic-centric city – kind of like New Orleans. Growing up non-denominational Christian I never quite understood Ash Wednesday as it was not honored at my church. My mom, born and raised in the Catholic Church, gently explained to me the significance of Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent.
I have friends from all walks of life. King Cake, Rosca de Reyes, and paczki are all apart of my life during Mardi Gras season – my definite favorite being paczki. Time for a little history. Paczki (pronounced POWN-ski) is a traditional Polish donut like confection started in Middle Ages to use up butter, sugar, and fruit so they wouldn’t spoil before Lent. Traditionally Paczki Day is Fat Thursday, the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. Here in Chicago, Paczki Day is Fat Tuesday.
The most popular paczki are custard filled or filled with fresh strawberries and cream. My favorite bakery is Weber’s on the South Side, home to Chicago Irish, Italian, Polish, and Mexican. In my humble opinion (and several thousand South Siders), Weber’s paczki are the ONLY paczki. My alarm wakes me up at 2:30AM to go stand in line so I can get them fresh when they open at 4AM. Today raspberry filled topped with peanut butter, Oreo filled topped with Oreo crumbs, fresh strawberry and whipped cream, and a billion (give or take) cream cheese custard filled made it home with me. Heaven! Absolute heaven.
So, what does it taste like? Essentially a cream filled donut, but on steroids. The pastry is light and fluffy and the filling is not overly sweet. I am a huge fan of cream cheese on everything and having a pastry filled with it is a dream.
Last year was my first year making the early morning trek to Weber’s, and naturally I made it on local ABC News that morning. It only makes sense. This year I’m bringing my girlfriend, Breyon, of course, to join in the festivities. This tradition makes me feel truly Chicagoan. If you can stand the temperatures, please visit next year to get a paczki and let it change your dang life. I definitely plan on flying some to Joy next year for Mardi Gras weekend.
If you’re celebrating today be safe and shower off all the glitter afterwards!