Yeast doughnuts have earned their place in the Polish culinary
tradition as one of the oldest and most important dishes.
Although it is a rather greasy pastry, according to the tradition, it
should be eaten in large amounts (albeit not very often). This
custom is particularly strong in the Polish regions of Vilnius. The
tradition is to fry and eat doughnuts on the last Thursday before
Lent, making it easier to diligently fast for the upcoming 40 days
of Lent. The day has even earned a name for itself: Fat Thursday.
On this day, Poles eat doughnuts everywhere they go — at home,
at work, at school, on the street and even on public transport.
Moreover, it is said that a person following the custom should eat
at least four doughnuts on this day.
Fat Thursday is an important event for doughnut bakers, with
all-night preparations made beforehand, as people tend to buy a
few dozen doughnuts at once. Long queues form in front of the
vendors, but people say this is how it should be, as queueing on
Fat Thursday is a family tradition. Poles tend to follow the custom
and eat as many doughnuts as they can on this day, regardless of
the fact that one such doughnut contains around 200 calories,
which would require a person to run for 20 minutes or walk for 54
minutes to burn. The elders say that if you don’t eat at least one
doughnut on this day, you will suffer from bad fortune for the
whole year. According to unofficial data, around two million
doughnuts are eaten in Warsaw on Fat Thursday, and 100 million
throughout Poland. There are even special doughnut eating
contests.
Interestingly, doughnuts used to be one of the favourite treats of
the priest prelate Józef Obremski, who spent many years at
service in Maišiagala. On 19 March, which is now the day of Saint
Joseph, his house would always smell of doughnuts. On that day,
parishioners would flock to his home, and the priest would treat
them to doughnuts and other desserts. This tradition started by
Józef Obremski himself is now continued by the staff of the
museum operating on the premises of the former rectory. Each
year, St. Joseph’s Day is an open day at the museum, and the
visitors are treated to traditional doughnuts.

Kontaktai

Šv. Antano g. 5, Maišiagalos mstl., Vilniaus r.

(8-601) 84102

juzefa@autograf.pl

Nuotraukos