Mark Dziadula sinks his teeth into his first paczek, a Polish doughnut traditionally served at a special time of year.
“Hmm, that’s very good. I love it. I love the powdered sugar and then I think this is kind of a combination of some fruit filling. I think multiple (fruit fillings), but very tasty,” Dziadula says while powdered sugar spills on the floor.
Dziadula grew up in Kansas and lives in Oklahoma, but he travels to his ancestral home of Poland every year. His timing just hasn’t been quite right when it comes to trying the treat that’s popular before the start of Lent, a period of pre-Easter fasting and praying marked by Christians. But now, Dziadula can get authentic Polish eats without having to travel across the Atlantic.
The woman responsible is Taste of Poland owner Alicja Sokoloski. She woke up early to make six batches of paczki (the plural version of paczek).
“So, the process, it’s uh, it’s long,” Sokoloski says while laughing. “It was 18 kilograms of flour, which is 40 pounds or something like this and 96 eggs.”
Sokoloski let the dough proof for more than two hours. The proofing process is important so the dough rises and ferments, giving the paczek their fluffy texture. Then came the frying, drying and filling.
After all that work more than 250 paczki are served for Fat Tuesday. The traditional party day marks the end of an indulgent week.
“The people will eat sweet and meat Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday (and) Tuesday,” Sokoloski says. “Then, starting Ash Wednesday, the people will not eat meat and will not eat sweets for the 40 days of Lent.”
A tradition of using up what was left in pantries and cupboards as people prepared lighter meals during Lent began in the Middle Ages.
Northwestern University scholar of Polish culture and Slavic languages Michal Wilczewski said the paczki began during this time.
“They would begin to create and cook all of this very rich food, right,” Wilczewksi said. “And so, thus, the paczek is born.”
The sweet treat went through many changes before making its way to the U.S. as a sort of jelly doughnut. Originally, paczek was disc-shaped, covered in a honey glaze and filled with bacon or fat.
Then King Augustus III made changes to the traditional paczek recipe with some help.
“The king had French chefs come to the Polish court and began to introduce this fluffier, more pillowy pastry that we enjoy today,” Wilczewksi said.
Polish immigrants brought modern paczek to the U.S. and Sokoloski followed in their footsteps. After she settled in Tulsa, she planned to be a stay-at-home mom, but then she started making pierogi, a type of Polish dumpling.
“I started to sell them at Broken Arrow and Owasso farmers' market and quickly it became very popular,” Sokoloski said. “I started making 1,500 to 1,700 of them a week and it got too much for a home kitchen.”
Sokoloski opened Taste of Poland last December. Shortly after opening she received messages asking if she’d serve paczek.
Sokoloski didn’t know if she would offer them, but customers like Daniel Miskowiec who spent his formative years in Poland are glad she did.
“Having a place that has paczki that are authentic is a nice, sort of, you know, trip down memory lane through the tastebuds,” Miskowiec said.
Now Sokoloski plans to offer paczek every month, bringing Fat Tuesday alive all year.
