Vital Information wrote: Note, that "Poilsh-Polish" paczki day is TOMORROW, i.e., Holy Thursday. Many of the Polish bakeries around town will be gearing their load for tomorrow. So be warned. Rob

Thanks for the heads up, Rob. The expressway was jammed this afternoon, but I had another reason for heading up Milwaukee Avenue: paczki. Sure enough, the classic signage clued me in to Ideal Bakery at 4765 North Milwaukee Avenue.



Once inside, I was greeted by the Paczki Perfume. Does anyone here know what I'm talking about? It's the smell that clings to your clothes, skin and hair after you've been in a kitchen where they are frying doughnuts in lard.



Now, you may say I'm a freak (I know that already), or that any sensible person jumps right in the shower after a grease infusion like that. But with doughnuts and paczki and gogosi (a Romanian version of paczki, not stuffed) it's a completely different experience -- I just want to prolong the sensation. I've spent the last few hours musing about it on and off. How to describe that scent? It's the funkiness of the hot lard borne up on the slightly sour, clean breath of the yeast, mingled with wafts of the top notes of vanilla and powdered sugar, all emulsified and nicely browned. It is sweet and dry and warm and earthy all at once.

Whew. Glad I got that off my chest.



edited 2/12/07 to restore links

What a great tip on LTH to head to Delightful Pastries on Lawrence. I have had paczki before, but never anywhere as good as the one filled with custard and strawberries that I had at Delightful -- the plum was delicious also. Now I have a benchmark for all future paczki!

I have to say that I tried one of their croissants -- always my favorite pastry -- and it was simply awful. I guess this just isn't the place for that. So I'll run back for the paczki . . . and maybe some other treats . . . but no more croissants.

BR wrote:What a great tip on LTH to head to Delightful Pastries on Lawrence. I have had paczki before, but never anywhere as good as the one filled with custard and strawberries that I had at Delightful -- the plum was delicious also. Now I have a benchmark for all future paczki!

I have to say that I tried one of their croissants -- always my favorite pastry -- and it was simply awful. I guess this just isn't the place for that. So I'll run back for the paczki . . . and maybe some other treats . . . but no more croissants.

Note, right across the street from Delightful Pastries is Halina's Cafe, one of my favorite Polish places in Chicago. It makes a great 1-2 combo.

Am here in the SF bay area and not a paczki can be found. Chowhound for SF area doesn't have a clue -- Josephine that was not fair, I can now remember the wonderful aroma wafting through a wonderful polish bakery on the south side where I worked as a teenager!!

with no car (usually) and an active 15 month old, its a bit difficult for me to travel to get paczki, so last year I was relegated to get them at Kay's bakery in Forest park. Last year I had the Bavarian cream and they were very tasty. I don't have much to compare to , only stale ones from Bobaks my husband bought home from work, that asides from the staleness were not very tasty. I normally don't really like anything from Kay's (or any other of the bakeries in the OP, Forest park etc. for that matter - why can't someone open a decent bakery there!!), but the paczki were a pleasant surprise. This year, I ordered them for Monday - they have them monday and tuesday.
LO

Kay's bakery is on Madison, just West of Harlem in Forest Park.

**edit - just ate a bavarian cream from Kay's today. they are different from last year, not really a filled donut type, but like a sandwich. The bavarian cream was very tasty, creamy, not too sweet, but the dough was only ok, a bit dry, but light. A decent paczki if you are in the neighborhood, but I wouldn't go out of the way for them.

FYI, the singular of paczki is paczek (sounds kind of like pon-check). I know little Polish other than the lewd songs and epithets my grandfather taught me when I was (too) young. (He also gave my brother a bottle of beer when he was four, which he later claimed was fine because it was a little bottle.) But, like the tamal/tamales issue, this distinction bears noting.

Vital Information wrote:Note, right across the street from Delightful Pastries is Halina's Cafe, one of my favorite Polish places in Chicago. It makes a great 1-2 combo.

Sounds like more good advice . . . and a good way to get a little fatter on Fat Tuesday!

Oddly enough I was at Dominick's today to pay property taxes and they are selling them there. I asked and they said that they're trying to get them out into most of the stores in the area. I think it was 6 for $3.49 and they had lemon, Bavarian cream, raspberry and maybe something else.

I didn't pick up any to try as I already had some and have plans to order elsewhere but I guess even the local supermarkets are getting in on it now!

kl5 wrote:FYI, the singular of paczki is paczek (sounds kind of like pon-check).

Thanks! I never know how to pronounce the plural and always end up with "poxy" or "pass key."

Jewel is carrying them too. The ones I saw looked just like their apple fritters.

I picked up six assorted fruit flavors from Central Continental in Mt. Prospect. They look and smell delicious. Paczki day at Central Continental is Tuesday and they are selling them until then. Lots of flavors, from the normal ones to "gourmet" ones such as cannoli and Oreo. The bakery is on 83 just north of Northwest Highway.

bibi rose wrote:I never know how to pronounce the plural and always end up with "poxy" or "pass key."

I pronounce paczki as "poonch-key". It lacks nuance, probably, but it gets me what I want, even from the mean girls.



Edit: On a second reading, it seems the above may come across in a way that I did not intend...

Oh yes, my SO is Polish and he pronounces it like "punch-key."

I too was at Central bakery and they have added some rather unusual flavors such as graham cracker and key lime (wonder what part of Poland key lime comes from - LOL)

Anyone have a source near Lincoln Square? My car less friend would love to know.

I think Dinkel's has had them, and Lutz might too, but hard to say how authentic those might be. Maybe that Balkan bakery/deli near the Sears on Lawrence?

ok, just ordered three dozen "assorted" from Bridgeport, we'll see how this goes!

I arrived to Bridgeport Bakery just before midnight to find I was not alone.



At the stroke of midnight, they began filling orders after collecting your name and verifying your phone number. The counter ladies shouting at each other to verify whether your order has already been assembled and resting on a perch somewhere. Once your counter lady knows it hasn't, then she grabs a box to collect your paczki's from the loaded racks scattered all over the place.



When they saw I was taking pictures, they ceased their brisk and efficient service to smile!



My order is almost complete, I have 6 bacon buns, 54 regular assorted paczkis and awaiting the two pieces each of the whipped cream and the strawberries and whipped cream paczkis.



I drove home arriving around 12:45. It's really a fast drive when there is nobody else on the road.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Regards,

By 6:00 they were significantly more lax about checking the phone numbers and such.

Nonetheless, I managed to get in and out with my three dozen paczki in tow.

I was shocked to realize that I had driven past this gem about a thousand times on my way to and from rowing practice, which we used to conduct not two blocks away.

So far, they are a big hit at the office!

I arrived at 7:45, and waited for 30 minutes in the line that was forming outside! As I am typing this, my face is smeared with whipped cream... These are amazing!

I actually had one last night from D'Amatos... Strawberry and cheese. It was good, but this blows it away!

Cathy2 wrote:

Hmm... This is interesting... I recognize 3 of the people in this photo... They were there when I was in line for my order... Coming back for seconds??

Can't believe I am admitting this but the panczki from Jewel are not too bad!

Jewel was NOT my first choice for panczki but due to lack of time (and a cranky 3 year old) this is where we ended up. We had the custard filled and the custard was nice and the dough was heavy but not overly so.

In a nutshell.....if you are in a pinch like I was and on a panczki mission...Jewel's version is not a bad alternative.

Happy Panczki Day!

HI,

I just came back from an apple panczki late afternoon snack from Bridgeport Bakery. These were sliced in half, then filled. Is this the usual construction?

Earlier today I shared a strawberry and cream, which was also delicious. They also offer a chocolate whipped cream, which I will have to order next year.

Regards,

Picked up the kids at school and then suddenly decided it would be a shame to not get paczki. Of course, I didn't really remember much from this thread-- just that there was some place out around 5700 West on Lawrence that somebody said was good. Good enough for me! So off we went.

Spotted it and we went in-- Delightful Pastries, The Best Paczki in Chicago. No paczki visible. But I asked and she said they'd be ready in about 45 minutes. I danced a little jig in my heart-- midnight-fresh paczki, without the staying up late. Give me one of everything, I said, and took the kids to run around a park.

Came back and even without a sign lit up like Krispy Kreme there was a line. (How do they know? Oh, actually it was about 5 minutes after 5, that's why there was a line.) They sold me a box, five flavors for about $4, warmth radiating from the box, more trays of fresh hot paczki being carried from the back as I paid. Then the mom gave the kids a couple of cookies each to tide them over, on the house.

Raced home and we devoured them-- plum, something else that looked and tasted like plum (raisin?), blueberry, apricot and raspberry. Best paczki in Chicago? Heck, could be, they were awfully good; of course they were also less than an hour old. There were some other flavors that I would have liked to try-- "boozy custard" sounds interesting. I should have noted them all, but I didn't.

Thanks for the start of another annual tradition, LTHForum. Also thanks for the fact that I was surely the only person running around today with paczki from Delightful Pastries AND leftover Dal Palak from Khan BBQ in his car.

Beth also made a run to Bridgeport Bakery for paczki today. Didn't call ahead, and there was a line at noon, but she was in and out pretty quickly. Unfortunately she already ate the strawberry and cream paczek

It's so nice to live close to such a fine, fine bakery.

bibi rose wrote:Oh yes, my SO is Polish and he pronounces it like "punch-key."

The closest English approximation you'll get is probably "POWNCH-key," although "PUNCH-key" is close. In Polish, the word is "pączki" as opposed to "paczki" (which means "packages." You've probably seen signs in the Chicago area advertising "Paczki do polski." Don't get too excited--this is not for jelly doughnuts, but rather sending packages to Poland.) However, this is English where we don't use accents regularly, so "paczki" is absolutely acceptable in my book and using "paczki" in the singular is also okay. "I had a raspberry paczki for breakfast" or "We picked up a bunch of paczkis from the bakery" may grate on the ears of us Polish speakers, but, who cares. The word has wormed its way into English and is now subject to the rules of a new language. But for those of you who are language purists, also note that one pierogi is technically a pierog.

The "a" with the hook represents a nasalized vowel (the only major Slavic language with nasal vowels that I'm aware of). For those of you who know French, substitute the "ON" nasal sound (as in "bonjour") for "ą" and you'll have the Polish pronunciation.

Vital Information wrote:

Josephine wrote:According to the helpful woman at the counter, the best way to be assured of obtaining the paczki you want on February 28th is to make an order by phone.

Note, that "Poilsh-Polish" paczki day is TOMORROW, i.e., Holy Thursday. Many of the Polish bakeries around town will be gearing their load for tomorrow. So be warned.

Rob

Oh, one more thing...Holy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter Sunday, commemorating the Last Supper, not the Thursday before Lent.

Binko wrote:

Vital Information wrote:

Josephine wrote:According to the helpful woman at the counter, the best way to be assured of obtaining the paczki you want on February 28th is to make an order by phone.

Note, that "Poilsh-Polish" paczki day is TOMORROW, i.e., Holy Thursday. Many of the Polish bakeries around town will be gearing their load for tomorrow. So be warned.

Rob

Oh, one more thing...Holy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter Sunday, commemorating the Last Supper, not the Thursday before Lent.

well, that's what you when a Jew starts spouting off...and the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, does it have a name?

Vital Information wrote:
...and the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, does it have a name?

In Poland it does.

Way back near the top of this thread, on Jan 30, 2005,

Anna Z. Sobor wrote:VI mentioned that the Polish-Polish bakery was not mobbed on Fat Tuesday last year. That's because in Poland it is celebrated on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday--tlusty czwartek (fat Thursday). When I was at Vienna Pastry last week, they had a postcard printed up advertising their 2 paczki days--Feb. 3 and Feb. 8. In Poland, Fat Tuesday is "Ostatki"--meaning the last day you can eat, dance, drink, etc. Cooks used up the last of their butter, preserves, oil, etc. before the Lenten fast.

Vital Information wrote:

Binko wrote:

Vital Information wrote:

Josephine wrote:According to the helpful woman at the counter, the best way to be assured of obtaining the paczki you want on February 28th is to make an order by phone.

Note, that "Poilsh-Polish" paczki day is TOMORROW, i.e., Holy Thursday. Many of the Polish bakeries around town will be gearing their load for tomorrow. So be warned.

Rob

Oh, one more thing...Holy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter Sunday, commemorating the Last Supper, not the Thursday before Lent.

well, that's what you when a Jew starts spouting off...and the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, does it have a name?

Well, you had me goin' for a minute. Your post induced me to round up a friend and get Paczkis on Polish-Polish Paczki Day. That day, I mentioned that it was Holy Thursday, to which my very-much-fallen-away former Catholic friend immediately responded "No, it isn't! Wait a minute . . . is it the Thursday before Lent or before Easter?"

How quickly we forget these things.

Picked up the kids at school and then suddenly decided it would be a shame to not get paczki. Of course, I didn't really remember much from this thread-- just that there was some place out around 5700 West on Lawrence that somebody said was good. Good enough for me! So off we went.

Spotted it and we went in-- Delightful Pastries, The Best Paczki in Chicago

.

Same here, BTW - near the area, didnt remember much (except
that it was Lawrence, near Austin, and a polish restaurant named
Hal-something was nearby Found it easily enough though, the
day before you did I think.

Raced home and we devoured them-- plum, something else that looked and tasted like plum (raisin?), blueberry, apricot and raspberry. Best paczki in Chicago? Heck, could be, they were awfully good; of course they were also less than an hour old. There were some other flavors that I would have liked to try-- "boozy custard" sounds interesting. I should have noted them all, but I didn't.

II didnt get it still warm like you - but they were very good. The
"boozy custard" is basically their normal custard, with some
alcohol in it (I asked Iam far from being a paczki expert, but
these were the best Ive had by far, especially the strawberries
and whipped cream one. What are the other recommended
flavours? I didnt try the plum, or the raisin - liked the raspberry.

Thanks for the start of another annual tradition, LTHForum. Also thanks for the fact that I was surely the only person running around today with paczki from Delightful Pastries AND leftover Dal Palak from Khan BBQ in his car.

I'll give you that one - Iam not a Dal-Palak fan in general, so Id probably
never have that combo. However, the day before you, I might have
been the only person running around with paczki from Delightful
Pastries and Goat Biryani from Usmaniya in the car

c8w

P.S. Does anyone know what the "fresh time" for paczki is, in
general, year-round? Talked to a friend yesterday who had never
heard of them, leave alone eaten them - so would like to pick up
a few fresh ones and take em over sometime.

I spent Tuesday with Morrie at the Cadillac Palace (Gould is good but that stage dwarfs the show) and had sort of forgotten it was Fat Tuesday until we stopped to pick up some cat food on the way home. Cub Foods had boxes of paczki stacked up. They had a nice little explanation of what it was all about printed on the side of the box.

There were several flavors: raspberry, Bavarian cream, something else I can't remember and prune. We picked prune as most authentic and they were surprisingly good, considering the source and that they'd probably been made early in the day.