This year, March 5 marks Fat Tuesday, the day before the start of the Lent season leading up to Easter. In Milwaukee, Fat Tuesday is also known as Pączki Day, when people flock to area bakeries and wait in lines, even during the harshest Wisconsin weather, to indulge in this Polish delicacy available only once a year.
Pączki, long pronounced by Polish elders on Milwaukee’s South Side as “pounch-key,” is no mere jelly donut. Pączki is made from rich dough that is deep-fried, filled and topped with icing, sugar glaze, granulated sugar or powdered sugar.
National Bakery and Deli (3200 S. 16th St., Milwaukee; 5637 S. Broad St., Greendale; and 13820 W. Greenfield Ave., Brookfield), founded by a Polish immigrant, has long led the way on Pączki Day. Lines frequently stretch down the block at the bakery’s original 16th Street location, which has been a South Side staple since 1925. National Bakery and Deli President and co-owner Jeff Callen said they expect to sell 36,000 pączki on Pączki Day this year at their three National Bakery retail stores, and they’ve turned the event into an experience.
“Over the last eight to 10 years, we have really expanded the experience for our customers. We've added an accordion player to all three stores. We have a different T-shirt each year with pączki sayings (last year’s read Pączki Day—A Milwaukee Tradition) that the employees wear and customers can buy.”
National Bakery and Deli sells traditional prune, raspberry and raisin-filled pączki. “However, this will be the first year we will offer a ‘surprise’ filling. Also, we offer a butter dough or regular dough option.”
National Bakery and Deli stores will open at 6 a.m. that morning. Customers can pre-order their pączki. “It definitely gets them out faster since we have an order line set up,” Callen said. “We will stop pre-orders a few days in advance or if the numbers get too high; last year was about 600. Anyone can stop by the stores to get some, too, but there might be a little wait.”
Over in West Allis, Grebe’s Bakery (5132 W. Lincoln Ave.) is preparing to sell approximately 60,000 pączki this Fat Tuesday, said Executive Assistant Liz Enders. Flavors include blueberry; apple with caramel icing; lemon-filled topped with powdered sugar; traditional glazed prune; raspberry filled topped with sugar or white icing; cheese-filled with cinnamon sugar; butter cream filled with chocolate icing; and a custard filled with chocolate icing. Lines stretch out the door bright and early on the morning of Fat Tuesday, “and even the Monday before,” Enders said.
Many Milwaukee-area bakeries will have assorted flavors of pączki fresh and ready for you on Fat Tuesday morning. Arrive early—some bakeries sell out quickly, but most also take pre-orders: Aggie’s Bakery, 7328 W. Greenfield Ave., 414-482-1288; Canfora Bakery, also doing business as Krieg’s Lakeside Bakery, 1100 E. Oklahoma Ave., Milwaukee, 414-486-7747; Cranky Al’s, 6901 W North Ave., Wauwatosa, 414-258-5282; Old World Deli, 7630 W. Grange Ave., Greenfield, 414-855-0470; Peter Sciortino Bakery, 1101 E. Brady St., Milwaukee, 414-272-4623; Polish Center of Wisconsin, 6941 S. 68th St., Franklin, 414-529-2140; Regina’s Bay Bakery, 423 E. Silver Spring Drive, Whitefish Bay, 414-332-5340; and Sweet Perfections Bake Shoppe, 1501 Paramount Drive, Waukesha, 262-446-2253.
