Today is Fat Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras). Today marks the last day of the Carnival season and the day before Ash Wednesday kicks off Lent.
Unfortunately, in Mormonism, we don’t really do any of those things. In part, I suspect that it’s because of their Catholic roots, and the fact that Catholics were basically non-existent in the milieu from which Mormonism emerged. Or maybe it’s because of our impoverished liturgical calendar. Or maybe it’s because we hate costumes, masks and parties. Whatever the reason, though, there is no distinctive Mormon Fat Tuesday celebration.
Which is why my family and I have whole-heartedly adopted Chicago’s version of Fat Tuesday: Pączki Day.[fn1]
Before I get too deep into pączki, it’s worth a quick note on Fat Tuesday; while the precise history is not entirely clear, part of the point of Fat Tuesday is to use up your eggs, milk, butter, and fat. In the past, the Lenten season required Catholics to give up meat and meat-related products. And eggs, milk, butter, and fat don’t store well over~46 days. Instead of throwing them out, then, a family would use them to make one last rich meal before the fast began.[fn2]
So what is a pączki? It’s a type of Polish filled donut. As I understand it,[fn3] in Poland, they’re eaten on Fat Thursday, but when Polish immigrants came to the U.S., their tradition merged with our Fat Tuesday, and now, in much of the Midwest, we celebrate today by preordering and eating pączki.[fn4]
Pączki Day is a big deal here: even Sue recognizes its centrality to Chicago’s liturgical calendar:
(I’m not even Polish. It’s just impossible to live in Chicago and not learn a bunch of stuff about Poland.
Dziękuję Ci…)
— Specimen FMNH PR 2081
(@SUEtheTrex) March 5, 2019
(@SUEtheTrex) Pączki are delicious (the drunken plum jam one I had last night was absolutely to die for), but if they’re not available in your neck of the woods, you can always try to make your own. Or just find the best filled donuts in your neighborhood (and plan to come to Chicago next Fat Tuesday!).
On Twitter, BCC is preparing to celebrate Lent, and is soliciting ideas for what to sacrifice during the Lenten season. And I think that’s a wonderful idea. But along with a Lenten fast to prepare ourselves for Easter and the risen Lord, let’s celebrate Fat Tuesday, and enjoy the delicious world we’ve been blessed with. And also, pączki.
[fn1] BTW, how do you pronounce it? If you’re me, you pronounce it wrong.
[fn2] Which is why England celebrates today as Pancake Day: pancakes are basically eggs, butter, milk, and flour.
[fn3] (from Wikipedia)
[fn4] And we take it very seriously: you can find plenty of articles about the best place to get them in Chicago. We always order ours from Dinkles, but yesterday we had family in town, so we treated them to some from Firecakes, and a friend from out of town got some from Stan’s.