When the clock strikes midnight on February 2nd we will enter the glorious doughnut extravaganza that is 'Tlusty Czwartek' - Fat Thursday in the Anglo-Saxon tongue.
If you're in town it's unlikely you'll be able to avoid an encounter with the mighty doughnut. Smiling restaurateurs will offer you one as a complimentary pudding, cafes will give you one with your expressso. In fact, if you have any friends in the city you may find yourself well and truly doughnutted by the end of the day, as if you are a polite guest, how do you turn down such well-meant presents?
So what's all this doughnut madness about? Tlusty Czwartek is indeed a time-honoured feature of the Christian calendar. In Catholic Poland, Fat Thursday represents one of the last hurrahs before the abstinence of Lent. The final indulgence is the equally jolly 'Herring Day' (Ostatki ) which comes next week on the last day of the carnival. The two festivities always fall on the last Thursday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.
Although the Polish carnival is no longer the Mardi Gras event that it was in times past (Ostatki once culminated in a huge street party on Cracow's Market Square with vodka and dancing galore) Tlusty Czwartek is still a much loved feature of the Polish calendar. And in spite of the bakers working frantically overtime, the best sweet shops are likely to sell out fast.
The best options for doughnut delights are the Cichowsky Cukiernia on ul. Starowislna and Claudia at ul. sw. Tomasza 8. However, Western doughnut lovers should be warned that the fillings are different in this neck of the woods. Poles like to fill their doughnuts 'paczki' (pronounced ponchkey) with rose jam, and often an alcoholic advocat variety. So it could be a love or hate scenario. Enjoy!
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