Paczki day

[ludja]

Is there any Jewish Polish tradition of these? I'm unfamiliar with them.

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Traditionally what oil would have been used for deep frying a 'sweet' dish in Poland or other northern climes while keeping kosher?

I think the most common fat for frying there and in other North European countries was lard. I'm not familiar with recipes for sweet goods that were deep fried in chicken or beet fat, and I'm not sure if there were vegetable oils appropriate for frying available then. Clarified butter could be used for shallow frying (eg. blintzes) and further south, olive oil would have been an option.

Pardon me in advance, if I'm blanking out on something obvious!!!

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I see now that sufganyiot are a traditonal Jewish doughnut served often at Hanukkah. Maybe deserving of it own thread, but where do these originate from and what was the traditional oil used before more modern vegetable oils were available?

[rickster]

Saw them at SuperStore the other day. DH wanted to try them but we thought they were just regular jelly doughnuts. May have to give them a try now...

When I lived in Connecticut, in recent years the supermarket chains grabbed on the the paczki idea as a marketing ploy and were pretty much slapping the label on your standard, maybe slightly puffier jelly doughnut. So what you're seeing in the supermarket very well may be a jelly doughnut.

I had some "authentic" ones last week for the first time from a Polish bakery here in Chicago and what distinguished them to me was the unusual fillings, among them prune, avocaat cream, rosehip jam. The dough itself seemed like a puffy jelly doughnut, not noticeably richer.

[lannie]

Saw them at SuperStore the other day. DH wanted to try them but we thought they were just regular jelly doughnuts. May have to give them a try now...

When I lived in Connecticut, in recent years the supermarket chains grabbed on the the paczki idea as a marketing ploy and were pretty much slapping the label on your standard, maybe slightly puffier jelly doughnut. So what you're seeing in the supermarket very well may be a jelly doughnut.

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Oh, the nerve!!! I'll have to search for a real Polish bakery to get the good stuff then.

Thanks for the 'warning'!

[Tess]

I had some "authentic" ones last week for the first time from a Polish bakery here in Chicago and what distinguished them to me was the unusual fillings, among them prune, avocaat cream, rosehip jam. The dough itself seemed like a puffy jelly doughnut, not noticeably richer.

I bought mine in the Chicago suburbs (Central Bakery in Mt. Prospect) and they tasted richer than doughnuts. I suspect lard was used in their preparation. They looked different too because they were sliced in half with the fillings spread in the middle. Lots of creative fillings although I did not see rosehip jam and would have liked to. I tried the fruit fillings, not the "cannoli" and such. (Polish cannoli?)

The ones sold by our local Jewel supermarkets look more like jelly doughnuts or fritters. A guy who was buying some told me they were good but they didn't look worth a try to me.

[rickster]

I bought mine in the Chicago suburbs (Central Bakery in Mt. Prospect) and they tasted richer than doughnuts. I suspect lard was used in their preparation. They looked different too because they were sliced in half with the fillings spread in the middle. Lots of creative fillings although I did not see rosehip jam and would have liked to. I tried the fruit fillings, not the "cannoli" and such. (Polish cannoli?)

Funny! I bought mine at Oak Mill Bakery on Rand Road in either Mount Prospect or Arlington Heights (not too familiar with the area). Great selection of fillings, but a few of the selections seemed to be on the edge of staleness. The best was actually a lemon one which was the freshest. Most interesting was the avocaat, which was a highly alcoholic custard

[Tracy K.]

I was up until midnight Monday night making packzi...and except for the ones my husband took to his office, there are none left. My recipe (and I have seen a very strange variety of them) gets its richness from six egg yolks, and only a half cup of sugar (plus the powdered sugar sprinkled on after they are fried). They are not that sweet as a pastry in and of themselves. I fill mine with strawberry preserves, trying my best to only put in strawberries (Bonne Mamman (sp?) makes a wonderful jam). I have also used rose hip jam, which is traditional, but it is very difficult to find in general and difficult to find a high-quality, non-rubbery, actually tastes like rose hips jam.

Ah, until next year....

Edited March 2, 2006 by Tracy K. (log)

[anzu]

I see now that sufganyiot are a traditonal Jewish doughnut served often at Hanukkah.  Maybe deserving of it own thread, but where do these originate from and what was the traditional oil used before more modern vegetable oils were available?

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This only partially answers your question, but in Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food, she writes that they were an Austro-Hungarian peasant carnival donut which became popularized at the court of Marie Antoinette.

[ludja]

I see now that sufganyiot are a traditonal Jewish doughnut served often at Hanukkah.  Maybe deserving of it own thread, but where do these originate from and what was the traditional oil used before more modern vegetable oils were available?

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This only partially answers your question, but in Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food, she writes that they were an Austro-Hungarian peasant carnival donut which became popularized at the court of Marie Antoinette.

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Thank you, anzu!

Funny thing is that I was just at the library last night and took out Roden's very same book! The other point she makes is that this doughnut (which, as you say, apparently originated from the Lenten Faschingkrapfen in Austria) was "adopted in Israel to celebrate Hanukah because it is fried in oil."

[suzilightning]

so today at work it was mardi gras beads, a festive mask drop in craft and for us, the staff paczki. i made them a filled them with red raspberry and lingonberry jams... and not a one left.

[Florida]

I’m about the last person who should be starting a thread on Pączki: I have no Polish ancestry and up to about four years ago I didn’t even know what pączki were. But here in Chicago, Pączki Day is an important day in the Polish community and the bakeries are busy selling boxes and boxes of these sweet treats.

For those who don’t know, pączki (pronounced “poonch-key,” “pooch-key” or by the easily taken-out-of-context “push-ky”), are Polish style doughnuts used to celebrate the coming of Lent. They are typically filled with fruit jams, especially prune, sweet cheese, or custard, though there are some other variations. The dough is especially soft and rich. Some are glazed. Others are sugared.

But enough from me. I’ll defer any further allegories or food history to those in the know and will be content sitting here enjoying yet another one of these wonderful fluffy rich doughnuts.

[suzilightning]

They're back...........and one in particular is calling my name.