"Paczki Tuesday" in Detroit

[Dr Mordrid]

Paczki is Polish for "little package," and that little package includes yeast, butter, flour, milk, salt, sugar and enough egg yolks to shoot your cholesterol into orbit. They're filled -- overfilled, if it's a true Polish paczek -- with anything from custard to raspberry, strawberry, lemon or prune jelly. They're topped off with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or a dollop of whipped cream, depending on their flavor.

Yummy, and you don't even have to be Polish

http://www.detnews.com/2003/food/0303/04/b01-98904.htm

Dr. Mordrid

[Nowhere]

Paczki are not little packages. Well...actually...they are (paczka = little package; paczki = little packages).
What you're looking at are "p¹czki" (or one "p¹czek" - see, in singular it's pretty different from "little package in polish"). Unfortunatelly your systems probably can't display "¹" (the second letter in words I used), so let's say it's something like "a umlaut" in german (of course it's spelled completely different than a umlaut) - a little similiar to "a", but not exactly...
Not sure about that one, but I think the best way to hear "¹" for english speakers is to say "ou".

But I must agree, I like this tradition. There were years when I was able to eat tons of this stuff

p.s. They're also filled with rose syrup. Yummy...

p.s. 2 And it's (according to tradition) thursday, not tuesday. It's even called "fatty thursday"

[Dr Mordrid]

Either way they're popular in Detroit. This all started because of our huge Polish population, exemplified by the city of Hamtramck. Now huge numbers Paczki's are sold in every grocery store in the whole area....even the middle-eastern markets in Dearborn and the Hungarian markets in Lincoln Park

Infectious little SOB's they are.....

Dr. Mordrid

[bambam]

how is this different from a perogi?

[ZokesPro]

Perogi's are usually stuffed with potatoes, cheese or some sort of meat instead of jelly.

[Tomasz]

Unfortunately, here in Orange County, California I cannot find any bakery that produces p¹czki. But, yeah I have fond memories of them from my childhood. The ones filled with rose preserve are my favorites. The only thing that comes close in flavor here are Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.

As Nowhere said, p¹czki, with the little tail on the "a" does not mean little packages. Rather, it means "buds," as in "flower buds." It is the plural form of p¹czek, which obviously means "bud."

For anyone who is interested, a phonological lesson in Polish follows:
Here's an almost fool-proof way to pronounce p¹czki:
p = same as english p
¹ = on, as in bon (from French)
cz = hard ch, as in church
ki = like the word key in English

Put it all together and we get:
p-on-ch-key

P¹czek, the singular form, is pronounced similarly:
p = same as english p
¹ = on, as in bon (from French)
cz = hard ch, as in church
ek = "e" as in let, followed by a normal English k sound

The stupid message board mangled my tailed a's, so they look like superscripted 1's instead of something like: "a,". Either way, the pronounciation guide still corresponds and is still valid.

Tom

[Tomasz]

Pierogi are totally different:
Paczki = Doughnuts
Pierogi = Dumplings (similar idea to ravioli in Italian cuisine or potstickers in some Asian cuisines)

Pierogi are made from a flower-egg dough that is rolled very thin. A ground stuffing (you can use a food processor), usually consisting of cabbage and mushrooms, or potatoes and cream cheese (Russian style) is inserted into circle shaped pieces of the thin dough. The dough is folded over and pinched shut (here you can be decorative in your method). The pierogi are then boiled in salt water. They can be served hot, topped with butter, or with lightly fried onion/bacon bits in the case of the Russian style ones. IMO pierogi taste even better when they are browned on a pan in olive oil.

Damnit, all this talk about food is getting me hungry... And after all, this is a day of fasting http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2003Mar5.html

Tom

[Dr Mordrid]

Originally posted by ZokesPro
Perogi's are usually stuffed with potatoes, cheese or some sort of meat instead of jelly.

True as far as it goes, but the covering of a perogi is a kind of dumpling and in my family (yes, some Russian in there) is served with butter/onion/bacon sauce & sour cream on top. A paczki is a pastry.

Dr. Mordrid

[Nowhere]

Tomasz, exactly. Btw, I haven't even thought today about the analogy with the flower buds to translate the word p¹czki...I think because buds (the ones for eating) are in colloquial speech seen as something completely different from flower buds...oh well, our language it's tricky a little even for native speakers (for example: mo¿e = maybe, morze = sea; but both are spelled EXACTLY the same way)

And perogi (or pierogi as I would say) are indeed something completely different - not only because of what they're stuffed with, but also because of dough etc...Dr Mordrid - oh yeas, those are called "russian perogi" here...although i prefer perogi with cabbage and mushrooms...

p.s. If you want, I can get from my old aunt recipe for p¹czki. The way she makes them...they are just superb!

[Dr Mordrid]

I know R. perogi very well....if I don't fix 'em 2-3 times a month I get dirty looks from all directions

Dr. Mordrid

[Strahd]

Originally posted by ZokesPro
Perogi's are usually stuffed with potatoes, cheese or some sort of meat instead of jelly.

Ya. One's a main course and one's a desert. Those polish folk aren't a very complicated nationality.

Which reminds me, did you hear the one about the polish woman and her blind canary.

[Wulfman]

what's the fuss about? these look like "krapfen" and are sold here everywhere (usually with apricot jelly). they are deep fried, are they?

mfg
wulfman

[Tomasz]

Ya. One's a main course and one's a desert. Those polish folk aren't a very complicated nationality.

Which reminds me, did you hear the one about the polish woman and her blind canary.

[Nowhere]

Wulfman, in Austria paczki are deep freezed?!
That's a profanation!

Strahd, although I'm not completely sure what you mean (some proverb-like saying?) you should know that perogi are mostly russian invention. And as for other part...come here and you'll see how complicated we can be

[Wulfman]

Originally posted by Nowhere
Wulfman, in Austria paczki are deep freezed?!
That's a profanation!

Strahd, although I'm not completely sure what you mean (some proverb-like saying?) you should know that perogi are mostly russian invention. And as for other part...come here and you'll see how complicated we can be

nope, definitly not freezed.

if they are what I think they are (and they look like it), they consist of some yeast-dough and are "baked" in lots of oil/butter (swimming around). after that they are filled (injection). right?

mfg
wulfman