Paczki Day 2022

Customers purchase packzis, a traditional Polish baked good on Paczki Day at Steimar Bread in Windsor. Taken on 3/1/2022. Photo by Caleb Coulter / MediaPlex News

Windsorites are lining up out the door at local bakeries eager to purchase paczkis, traditional Polish baked goods.

Steimar Bread, an Italian bakery in Windsor, has been serving baked goods since 1959. While paczkis are a hallmark of Polish culture, many non-Polish bakeries like Steimar Bread still sell dozens of the jelly-filled doughnuts on Paczki Day every year.

Also referred to as Fat Tuesday, it is a part of Catholic tradition leading up to Lent, a 40-day period of fasting. Polish Catholics have been baking paczkis since the Middle Ages, according to Michigan State University. This tradition began in order to use up sugar and jelly left over before Lent, when Catholics avoid eating sugary or fatty foods as part of their fasting.

Paczki Day, the more secular version of Fat Tuesday, has seen many bakeries across Canada adopt the practice of baking and selling dozens of the sweet treats to Canadians, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

While tensions in eastern Europe are still running high, Canadians still celebrate the Polish tradition by purchasing paczkis from local bakeries.