All about Mardi Gras... in Poland

For Poles, carnival means eating paczki (jelly-filled buns), particularly on Tlusty Czwartek, or "Fat Thursday," marking the start of the final week of the pre-Lenten celebrations.

The zapusty or carnival season reached its height during the days of old Poland. Elegant balls were held in elegant manor houses. Country-folk, on the other hand, would make merry, drink, dance and flirt at the village inn. The rich would feast on fancy hors d’oeuvres, roast game, and fine wines. Peasants enjoyed their zimne noge (jellied pig’s knuckles), kiszka (blood and groat sausage), and kielbasa z kapusta (sausage and cabbage), which they washed down with beer and gorzalka, the least expensive vodka available.

Common to both groups, however, were paczki, which were consumed in huge quantities.