Poles indulge in pączki to mark the end of Carnival
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
08.02.2018 13:53
Poles are traditionally indulging in millions of doughnuts on Thursday as they mark the end of the festive Carnival season.
A little girl enjoys her pączek. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel.
The average Pole is set to enjoy 2.5 pączki, or Polish doughnuts -- balls of yeast dough that are fried in lard, topped with icing sugar and typically filled with jam or marmalade.
The perfect pączek weighs about 55 to 70 grams and contains some 400 calories, according to experts.
They have been the snack of choice on Tłusty Czwartek or "Fat Thursday" since the 17th century and, according to superstition, not eating one brings bad luck for a year.
Fat Thursday is a kind of last hurrah before Lent, a period of fasting and solemn reflection for Roman Catholics in the lead-up to Easter.
Fat Thursday can be compared to Shrove Tuesday or pancake Tuesday observed by some in other parts of the world. (vb/pk)