Where to Get Paczki for Fat Tuesday

Mariano’s Fresh Market got the paczki craze started early Monday, offering samples of the delectable treat ahead of Fat Tuesday.

The market, located at 802 E. Northwest Highway, has a Europe clientele who understands the paczki tradition, but Mariano’s finds some customers don’t know about Fat Tuesday or paczki.

“We are sampling the product and explaining what Fat Tuesday is,” Store Manager Ken Szymanski said.

Paczki is fried dough, not a doughnut, which is a tradition in Poland on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. The paczki _ pronounced pawnch-kee _ was made to use up sugar, lard, eggs and fruit in homes before Ash Wednesday when many Catholics give up the items for Lent, according to Wikipedia.com. It is popular for Fat Tuesday in the U.S.

Mariano’s has the traditional Bavarian cream custard paczki along with lemon, strawberry, raspberry and cherry available for sale singly or in a six-pack. The bestseller, and Szymanski’s favorite, is Bavarian cream.

Cake decorator Rachel Jenkin said the company provides the paczki and the in-store bakery fills them with the fruit or custard filling.

“We will have them available all day on Fat Tuesday,” Szymanski said.

Several Arlington Heights bakeries will have plenty of paczki available including:

Oak Mill Bakery

2314 E. Rand Rd.
847-454-0139

Arlington Cake Box Bakery

1617 West Campbell
847-255-9120

So, how many calories are in a paczki? There are about 400-500 calories in a single one, according to ask.com.

If you eat one, you may want to try these activities for an hour to burn off the calories, according to activerain.com:

• Jog
• Play racquetball
• Move household items from downstairs to upstairs
• Scrub the floors on your hands and knees