28-02-2025
Egg prices not plunging spirts for Paczki tradition
BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) — Fat Tuesday is next week, and you may have to spend more on some traditional treats to celebrate.
Marta Mazur has been behind the counter at Krakus Polish Deli and Bakery since 2012, and this time of year things tend to get a little busy.
'It's fun to also educate people about a little bit of my culture,' Mazur said. 'So I enjoy it tremendously.'
Fat Tuesday is still a few days away, but in Poland, the Paczki tradition gets a little premature head start.
'In Poland, they celebrate it on Thursday, which is called Fat Thursday in Poland,' Mazur said. 'And then on Tuesday, when we celebrate the Fat Tuesday, that's when they finish off their drinking.'
The prized Paczki is full of rich ingredients like butter and eggs, so the bill might be a little steeper this year thanks to soaring prices on a key ingredient kneaded to make it all come together.
'For us right now, it's trying to find the stuff, so finding eggs was such a challenge like a week ago, so I couldn't even start earlier than this,' Mazur said.
So Marta and her staff have their work cut out for them. They've already raised prices by a quarter — $2.25 to 2.50 per Paczki — and are focusing on taking orders ahead of time so they're prepped with Paczki once Fat Tuesday arrives.
'I don't have as much for walk-ins. So walk-ins are probably going to sell out pretty quickly, especially on a Tuesday,' Mazur said.
Thursday morning they had pumped out eight batches, each containing nine dozen Paczki, to fill various orders that had already been placed.
'I have my regulars who are absent minded and they're like, 'Oh yeah, you were supposed to set me some aside. Well you didn't call but I knew that at the last minute they were going to call, so I usually have a little bit of a backup for all of those regulars,' Mazur said.
It's a labor of love that just takes a little pre-planning, no matter what day you're celebrating.
'We're still celebrating, there's no way of getting away from it,' Mazur said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
