Yesterday's weather prevented me from getting my annual paczkis. By the time the roads were cleared from snow and driveable, it was too late to go to any stores . So I will have to be content to wait until March 19 - St. Joseph's Day and make do with a few cream filled zeppole or "sfingi" as they are also known. Interesting article - I was unaware of the specific differences between doughnuts and paczkis. Around here, there aren't a lot of authentic Polish bakeries so most of the paczkis you find here in Fairfield County are just really big jelly doughnuts and the dough itself doesn't contain any of those other subtle ingredients like orange or lemon peel or rose. For next year, I'll have to seek out some really authentic ones, maybe in New Britain, CT which has a large Polish population but it is an hour away...
For us Southern Italians, lasagne is the meal for "Martedi Grasso" or the last day of Carnevale and that is what I had. Same principle - a very rich dish to eat before the season of sacrifice, deprivation and "lean" eating... We do make exceptions to the "lean eating" on March 17 for St. Patrick's Day where ham or corned beef is traditional (though not Italian - but we want to be respectful of all ethnic customs don't we?) and of course March 19 where we eat those filled pastries...
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