Windsorites clambor for once-a-year Paczki special

How are Paczki made and what is the big draw? CTV Windsor’s Bob Bellacicco looks into it.

Paczki Day is a day for everyone to enjoy a piece of the Polish culture. “We know on March 17, everybody wants to be Irish. Right? Well, on Paczki Day everybody want[s] to be Polish,” said Tony Blak, owner of Union Bakery.

Paczki Day, also known as Fat Tuesday, is a final day of hurrah before Lent. Christians give up certain luxuries during Lent and embark on a 40-day period of self-discipline in preparation for Easter.

Many enjoy the sweet taste of the Polish pastry. The paczki dates back to 17th century Poland and is a complex operation at Blak’s Bakery where the usual staff of 12 balloons to 40.

It all starts with the dough. It gets flattened out before going into a machine to get cut into pieces. It is put on a screen and delivered to the back room to get deep fried.

“I wait ‘til they’re golden brown and then I flip them over,” said Doug Gill, who was frying up the paczki’s Tuesday morning.

Once they are cooled off, the paczki’s are injected with the various fillings and then sprinkled with sugar.

Blak’s made upwards of 40-thousand of the pastries this year and the bakery was a steady stream of busy throughout the day.

“I love Paczki Day,” qaid owner Valerie Blak-Gill. “It’s so nice. It’s like a family get together.”

The paczki is so popular Steimar had no choice but to unretire it. “We had to come back,” said supervisor Lori Theriault.

The Paczki was back at Steimar for the first time in two years and sold like hotcakes. At one point we spoke with a lady who picked up the last box of powdered paczki’s, much to the dismay of another lady who just missed out on her favourite.

Steimar made about 30-thousand of the popular Polish donuts and were almost sold out by 9:00 a.m.

“We even opened up a little earlier than expected just to have the few people that were waiting come in, get their choice of donuts,” Theriault told CTV News.

Many, including Jonathon Shanahan, dropped in to pick up an order for co-workers because the city continues to embrace the tradition.

“Everybody gets used to a certain treat on this Tuesday and looks forward to it regardless of what’s going on in the world. It’s a consistent.”