Time to eat the paczkis, Before we get to Mardi Gras, let’s welcome Tlusty Czwartek.

Much like the French Fat Tuesday, Polish Fat Thursday is a day dedicated to big eating. It marks the start of the final week of pre-Lent celebrations. (Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on Feb. 22.) This year, Fat Thursday is Feb. 16. Fat Tuesday is Feb. 21.

A big part of both holidays is paczki (punch key). Sure, they look like bismarks on steroids, but they’re different.

Kathy Lenart, assistant manager at Witek Bakery in Palos Hills, says like doughnuts, paczki are made with flour and sugar. But they also contain eggs, which make for a heavier, richer dough. Like many Polish bakeries, Witek’s makes paczki year-round. The bakery typically sells 500 on an average weekday and about 1,000 on Fridays and Saturdays. On Fat Thursday and Fat Tuesday, they pump out 25,000 to 30,000 a day.


“We stay and keep working until all orders are filled,” Lenart said.

The most popular filling among their Polish customers is “rose,” a buttery, raspberry-flavored jam. Others tend to opt for raspberry or custard.

In addition to baking for walk-ins, Witek’s also delivers to markets across the city, including European Imports in Homer Glen and Palos Deli & Liquor in Palos Hills. They also ship to Florida and Indiana.

Lenart said Witek paczki are baked differently than some others. They’re lighter, she said, and icing is applied immediately because “the icing sticks best when the paczki are fresh out of the fryer.”

The economy may be struggling, she said, but people still want their baked goods, especially on holidays. So much so, they’ll wait for a new batch if the bakery runs out.

“Polish people believe that eating a paczki on Fat Thursday or Fat Tuesday brings good luck for the rest of the year,” she said.