(no subject)
[It's Fat Tuesday! That means on a table out in camp, there are platters stacked high with paczki]
Looks like you've found a paczki.
A paczki is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with confiture or other sweet filling. Pączki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing or bits of dried orange zest. A small amount of grain alcohol is added to the dough before cooking; as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough. That's good, because as it is, paczki tend to be unhealthily fattening.
Although they look like bismarcks or jelly doughnuts, paczki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar and sometimes milk. They feature a variety of fruit and creme fillings and can be glazed, or covered with granulated or powdered sugar. Stewed plum jam and wild rose hip jam are traditional fillings, but many others are used as well, including strawberry, Bavarian cream, blueberry, custard, raspberry and apple.
You know, paczki have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages. Jędrzej Kitowicz has described that during the reign of August III, under the influence of French cooks who came to Poland, pączki dough was improved, so that pączki became lighter, spongier, and more resilient.
Here in America, paczki is a popular snack to eat on Fat Tuesday. Traditionally, the reason for making paczki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, because they were forbidden to be consumed due to Catholic fasting practices during Lent. It still has some connections to its religious and cultural roots, but these days it's mostly popular because of its flavor.
Just goes to show how time changes all cultures, doesn't it?
Looks like you've found a paczki.
A paczki is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with confiture or other sweet filling. Pączki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing or bits of dried orange zest. A small amount of grain alcohol is added to the dough before cooking; as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough. That's good, because as it is, paczki tend to be unhealthily fattening.
Although they look like bismarcks or jelly doughnuts, paczki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar and sometimes milk. They feature a variety of fruit and creme fillings and can be glazed, or covered with granulated or powdered sugar. Stewed plum jam and wild rose hip jam are traditional fillings, but many others are used as well, including strawberry, Bavarian cream, blueberry, custard, raspberry and apple.
You know, paczki have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages. Jędrzej Kitowicz has described that during the reign of August III, under the influence of French cooks who came to Poland, pączki dough was improved, so that pączki became lighter, spongier, and more resilient.
Here in America, paczki is a popular snack to eat on Fat Tuesday. Traditionally, the reason for making paczki was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, because they were forbidden to be consumed due to Catholic fasting practices during Lent. It still has some connections to its religious and cultural roots, but these days it's mostly popular because of its flavor.
Just goes to show how time changes all cultures, doesn't it?