The day of the donut
Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance, when the faithful rededicate themselves by observing the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert.
But before Poland's faithful begin their month-long abstinence they first have to follow a very different journey and one that usually ends in a long queue at a bakery welcome to Fat Thursday, the day of the donut.
The last Thursday of carnival is a day often devoted to eating paczki donuts to English speakers. What Dunkin' Donuts is to American fast food culture, paczki are to Poland's religious epicureans a culinary treat before a bout of harsh asceticism.
Legend has it that Fat Thursday's traditional paczki-fest started in Krakow in the 17th century. Apparently a local official piled unfair taxes on the city's market traders and the day he died vendors organized a feast for the last Thursday of carnival season, passing out paczki to Krakow's residents.
In Warsaw, Fat Thursday usually means queuing for hours at the A. Blikle* bakery on ulica Nowy Swiat.
The bakery has been a family business since 1869, originally founded by Antoni Kazimierz Blikle.
Paczki have obscure origins. Different sources say they comes from Austria, Germany and Turkey. These days, however, they're very Polish.
* Blikle's traditional paczki are filled with rosepetal jelly and are decorated with icing and caramelized orange peel.
