{"id":28718,"date":"2016-02-10T13:51:56","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T19:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=28718"},"modified":"2016-02-11T09:46:32","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T15:46:32","slug":"paczki-in-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/paczki-in-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicagoans indulge in Fat Tuesday tradition with p\u0105czki"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Raquel Zaldivar<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chicagoans in Wicker Park made sure to stop through Oak Mill Bakery for Fat Tuesday to pick up p\u0105czki, or a doughnut-like Polish treat traditionally made for the pre-Lenten celebration. While the Wicker Park location has only been open for six years, Oak Mill Bakery has been making the polish dessert for almost 30 years. Even so, the demand at the bakery for p\u0105czki has increased every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur pre-orders were larger than last year,\u201d Executive Chef Jessica Nowicki said. \u201cAnd last year we were higher than ever before, so we\u2019ve surpassed that by far.\u201d
\n<\/p>\n

[vimeo 154884699 w=474 h=375]<\/p>\n

Wicker Park’s Oak Mill Bakery ordered thousands of p\u0105czki for a Fat Tuesday rush. The doughnut-like Polish treat is a pre-Lent tradition. (Kat Lonsdorf and Raquel Zaldivar\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n

In anticipation of people coming to get their p\u0105czki fix, Nowicki ordered an additional 3,000 p\u0105czkis in addition to the 50 orders she has previously placed for Tuesday alone. Those original orders had about 12 dozen of the pastries each, ready to be filled by the bakery staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decorate them, we fill them but all the dough is actually made in our production kitchen in Des Plaines, so we get shipments of them throughout the day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Starting at six a.m., a steady stream of customers lined up at Oak Mills\u2019 counter. Kelsey Gallan, who is Ukranian, looked up where to find the best p\u0105czki and decided on the Wicker Park bakery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean it\u2019s Fat Tuesday. I kind of had to come. Bit of a cold walk, but it was worth it, I hope,\u201d she said before biting into her poppy-flavored p\u0105czki.<\/p>\n

Other customers at Oak Mill have been buying p\u0105czki for years and make sure not to miss out on the pre-Lent tradition. While customer Brenda Russell isn\u2019t Polish herself, she said that she grew up with many Polish friends and buys p\u0105czki every year for herself and her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband is Polish. My best friend is Polish, so I\u2019m honorary Polish and it\u2019s just sort of a tradition. It\u2019s something that you feel like you have to do,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n

Neil Bossard works in Wicker Park and also indulges in some p\u0105czki every year. He decided to stop in on his lunch break for one of his favorite flavors: blueberry.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife gets them every year, and I figured I\u2019d bring some back to the guys in the office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked why she thinks p\u0105czki continue to be popular in Chicago, Nowicki said it\u2019s due to Chicago\u2019s large Polish population. She also said they\u2019re different from regular doughnuts that are available year-round.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey proof them twice, so they\u2019re very airy. You have to watch them the entire time that they\u2019re in the fryer and they\u2019re only best when you eat them [the same day],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Kat Lonsdorf.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo at top: Wicker Park’s Oak Mill Bakery ordered thousands of p\u0105czki for a Fat Tuesday rush. The doughnut-like Polish treat is a pre-Lent tradition (Raquel Zaldivar\/MEDILL).<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Raquel Zaldivar Chicagoans in Wicker Park made sure to stop through Oak Mill Bakery for Fat Tuesday to pick up p\u0105czki, or a doughnut-like Polish treat traditionally made for the pre-Lenten celebration. While the Wicker Park location has only been open for six years, Oak Mill Bakery has been making the polish dessert for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"featured_media":28726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[585],"tags":[1253,1254,1255,1256,448],"class_list":["post-28718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2016","tag-fat-tuesday","tag-lent","tag-paczkis","tag-polish","tag-wicker-park"],"yoast_head":"\nChicagoans indulge in Fat Tuesday tradition with p\u0105czki - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/paczki-in-chicago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chicagoans indulge in Fat Tuesday tradition with p\u0105czki - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Raquel Zaldivar Chicagoans in Wicker Park made sure to stop through Oak Mill Bakery for Fat Tuesday to pick up p\u0105czki, or a doughnut-like Polish treat traditionally made for the pre-Lenten celebration. 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