Unique Polish Traditions

Tłusty Czwartek

Tłusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday) marks the last Thursday before Lent and is part of the celebration of Carnival. It is quite similar to Mardi Gras celebrations, though it is really more dedicated to eating and not partying. And believe me, the eating is worth it!!

There are two traditional Polish desserts that are always eaten on Tłusty Czwartek - pączki and faworki. Both are incredibily delicious!! Pączki are what Poles consider donuts - though they are different from American donuts as they don't have a hole in the center. Fist-sized, deep-fried pieces of dough with a jelly or sweet filling in the center (traditionally it's rose marmalade, which is my favorite) then covered with powdered sugar or glazing, pączki are eaten all year. However, on Tłusty Czwartek pączki are consumed with an unmatched vigor - on average each Pole eats about 2.5 pączki (about 100 million pączki eaten in Poland!). From personal experience I think this statistic is a bit low - I ate at least 4, so did my host sister, host mom and my host dad ate at least 6. Believe me - when you wake up and on the kitchen table is a platter full of pączki (with extras stored away for later), you are offered a pączki for a school snack and continue to eat them in the evening just because of the incredible overall deliciousness - I'm not sure how the average could only be 2.5!




(In case this post is making you hungry, according to Wikipedia Pączki Day is celebrated every year in Chicago on Tłusty Czwartek (in 2012 - Feb 16th) and in Polish neighborhoods across the US you are bound to be able to buy pączki! Someone should check out the Polish neighborhood stores in Minneapolis...)




If eating pączki all day isn't enough of a Fat Thursday event - there is also the sweet pastry called faworki to munch on. Extremely simple to make, faworki are fried pieces of dough shaped into thin twisted ribons then covered in powdered sugar. Also quite delicious and very popular, though perhaps not consumed in such bulk like pączki. My host Babcia made ours and I'm hoping to learn how and bring the recipe back to MN.

Of course, Tłusty Czwartek led us to Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season. Being a Catholic country, Ash Wednesday is celebrated by most Poles. Not a whole lot of differences, except that instead of a cross of ashes on the forehead the priest dumped a pinch of ashes on top of the my head.



Dzień Kobiet

Dzień Kobiet (Day of Women) is celebrated anually in Poland on March 8th. Originally Dzień Kobiet was celebrated in Poland as political holiday - it was an official holiday in the USSR known as the International Working Women’s Day. Now the day has lost its more political meaning and is seen as a day to honor women. Dzień Kobiet is celebrated kind of like a Valentine's Day/Mother's Day mix. In schools the boys in each class give small gifts to all the girls, usually it's flowers, though I did see one class of girls who received shirts with a group photo of the boys on it. As for me I received a lovely yellow and red tulip.



I really enjoyed walking home from school on Dzień Kobiet because it seemed like almost every person I passed was carrying a flower - either because they had received it as a gift or because they were about to give the flower away. Tulips seem to be the choice flower for school classmates or friends, roses and larger boquets were saved for a significant other - the boyfriend/husband often waiting outside of school or the office building for the special women.



While Dzień Kobiet is not celebrated in the U.S. like it is here in Poland, March 8th is International Women's Day as designated by the U.N. President Obama declared March to be Women's History Month and Secretary of State Clinton launched "Empowering Women & Girls through International Exchanges,” a year-long series of events bringing “100 Women” leaders from 92 countries to the United States. Interestingly enough, one of the cities these women leaders will be traveling to is Minneapolis. That seems like a pretty cool way to celebrate Dzień Kobiet!