Blue Cow Sells Hundreds of Paczkis on Fat Tuesday

Paczkis (pronounced ponch-key) were selling quickly today at 

As of noon, the small deli at 2012 W. Algonquin Road had sold 1,200 of the Polish doughnuts to customers this Fat Tuesday, said Jozef Buch, a manager at . 

Buch estimated they would sell 2,000 by day’s end.

“The paczki is associated with Fat Tuesday because it is a very fatty pastry,” Buch said.

A paczki is made with flour, butter, sugar and lard and then is fried in vegetable oil, filled with sugary jellies and topped with icing, according to a Chicago Tribune article.

The paczki became a tradition for Polish families as they tried to get rid of the extra lard and meat in their homes before Lent, according to the Tribune.

does not bake the paczkis at its deli but has them shipped in.

sold out of its strawberry and cream paczkis by noon Tuesday but still had raspberry, blueberry, plum, apricot and rose paczkis available.

The rose-filled paczki is a traditional Polish recipe infused with rose petals and sugar, Buch said.

"When I was young, I remember going with my mom to the outskirts of town to pick wild roses. My mom would squish the roses with sugar and put it in a jar,” Buch said. “Then she would use that for a filling” for a paczki. 

Fat Thursday

Buch said Thursday, Feb. 16, was also a busy day for his deli.

That is the Polish-version of Fat Tuesday. He said Polish-Americans from the area come in droves to pick up a paczki.

That day, sold 2,000 paczkis.

“We have it on a Thursday because it’s a reminder that we have one last weekend to go celebrate and have fun before Lent. Americans will have Mardis Gras and tomorrow Lent starts,” Buch said. Polish-Americans “like to have a good time over the weekend.”