paczki

Paczki are traditional Polish donuts and a popular Polish-American tradition celebrated on Fat Tuesday, aka Paczki Day, the day before Ash Wednesday. Paczki are a splurge food before Lent fasting begins. It’s thought that the Polish communities adopted Fat Tuesday as Paczki Day when they immigrated to the U.S.

Paczki aren’t just a Polish thing. Many countries have a version of a filled donut. In Germany, it’s a Berliner. In Austria, it’s a Krapfen. In Romania, it’s called Gogosi. Ukranians call it a Pampushky. In Pennsylvaniz Dutch country, it’s called a Fastnacht. And in Hawaii, Portuguese immigrants call it a Malasada.

We were in Hawaii a few years ago, talking to a man of Portuguese descent (there's a big Portuguese population on Oahu), and he told us that we MUST go to Leonard’s Aloha Bakery and buy some malasadas. Our plans were to hike up Diamond Head but we added a trip to Leonard’s to buy these pre-hike pastries. We purchased raspberry, vanilla cream, and chocolate cream malasadas. I took a bite of the malasada, a big blop of chocolate fell right onto my shoe, but ohmygosh…it was a bite of heaven!