Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Tuesday is Mardi Gras, otherwise known as "Fat Tuesday", marking the return of the yearly tradition in which people partake in consuming a number of foods and other delectable items the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the opening of the season of Lent, when such foods are avoided.
Fat Tuesday in Western New York is also known as Pączki Day, which is a Polish twist to Mardi Gras, marking the start of Lent and allowing people one last chance to indulge before Ash Wednesday hits.
"In Poland, they were always trying to get rid of the temptations that were in their house before the Lenten season started, so they were looking for different ways to get rid of those delicious ingredients: Butter, sugar, eggs, glazes, things of that sort. So what they did was they made these donuts, or Pączki, and traditionally in Poland, they fill them with a rose jelly or a prune jelly," said Marga McMahon, Director of Interactive Learning with OLV Human Service, an agency oversight for Mazurek's Bakery in Buffalo's "Old First Ward" community. "At Mazurek's, we use a black raspberry filling and a rum glaze. That's just very traditional to us, and that's how the Mazurek's have always done it, so that's how we continue to do it."
Despite growing up Irish in South Buffalo, McMahon says Pączki Day is her favorite day of the year, even though she'll be working overnight to make sure there's plenty of Pączkis for Western New Yorkers to enjoy.
"I'll be working 10 p.m.-to-4 p.m., but I love it. Everybody is in such a great mood," McMahon said with WBEN. "I think what's so special about it, really, is just the tradition that everybody gets behind and believes in. I think Buffalo is a very traditional city. We have all of these different cultural festivals and things that help us celebrate our heritage. I did not grow up behind Pączki, but I am here for it now, and I will never stop celebrating it. So thrilled to be a part of, yet, another year at Mazurek's."
While a number of local supermarkets and other bakeries have already been offering up Pączkis, there's certainly a tradition to how Mazurek's Bakery operates on Pączki Day, and it started the night before.
"We've done some prep ahead of time - making some glazes here and there, some sugars, folding up our boxes, taking orders - but making the actual Pączki can't start until [Monday night] for us," McMahon said. "When we get in at 10 p.m., we're going to start by weighing out all of our ingredients and mixing our dough, scaling off the donuts and letting them proof. Once they've proofed, we take them back to our fryer. We can actually only fry 24 donuts at a time, so that's why it takes us all night - we should probably get a second fryer. But we'll be here all night frying them. Once they're fried, we glaze them immediately, and then they get filled with jelly. So sometimes, if you come here, in the later [part] of the morning, once our stock has kind of dwindled out, you're waiting for fresh donuts to come out of the fryer."
And while many in Western New York are well versed with Pączki Day and know what one of these donuts taste like, how would McMahon describe a Pączki to someone who has never tried this delectable treat?
"There's nothing like a Pączki right out of the fryer, a fresh Pączki that's still warm from the glazer, there's really nothing like it," she said. "The Mazurek's have always used this black raspberry filling, so it's traditional to us, and the rum glaze just adds something that's kind of next level. It's definitely a step above your regular donut. It's not something that we have every day. You can always call and order them, but we're not making them every day just because they are that special."
Mazurek's Bakery will be open at its South Park Avenue store, 543 South Park, in the "Old First Ward" from 8 a.m.-to-5 p.m. on Tuesday. They will also to be selling Pączkis at the Broadway Market starting as early as 7 a.m.
"If people miss it, they can always call and ask for them for this weekend or something. But we will have fresh donuts in store for the majority of the day," McMahon added.