Sucker Punch Key: The Quest for Pre-Lenten Polish Doughnuts (Packzi/Pączki)

Lent is around the corner, so what do good Catholics do beforehand? Party it up, aka Mardi Gras. And, you use up all the good stuff, like dairy, eggs, lard, fruit, sugar and meat before Lent, since those were forbidden during the forty days of Lent. 

Of course this was back in the day, like the Middle Ages, when Lent was a lot more strict but even today Catholics all over the world party it up before Lent. Usually you don't eat meat on Friday, and you give up something you enjoy for Lent (like alcohol, sweets, swearing), or at least, that's what I grew up doing.

Sadly I did not grow up knowing about pączki (pronounced punch key, the Polish answer to using up all the good stuff before Lent. Think a super rich, brioche-like dough, fried, and filled with a yummy jam or cream. A jelly doughnut? Bah! To call pączki a mere jelly doughnut is like calling Shake Shack a simple burger joint! 

A year ago I read about pączki at one of my favorite foodie websites Serious Eats and I've been thinking about searching for it ever since. They also have a recipe for those more adventurous/baking inclined than I am. Actually I thought it proper to taste it first, so I have a baseline, then I'd consider making it. But after trying it, I see why it's a once a year sort of treat. That and deep fried zeppoles at The San Gennaro Feast.

Anyway, onto the pączki. The Fisherman and I made our way to Greenpoint in Brooklyn in search of these elusive fried yummies. But since we were in the neighborhood, we first stopped for something savory at Relax Restaurant. We were a bit early, so we wandered, and noticed other establishments also had the pączki. This seems to be a seasonal thing, so my guess is you get it while you can. But we were after the best, so we held out. We killed some time, got inspired for fried doughnuttiness, and returned to Relax.

After being fortified with Polish home cooking (and me butchering the name of a Polish beer, again), we head off to Northside Bakery. They had some incredible looking baked goods, as well as some standard Polish fare (is my guess). Being novices, we ordered two of each pączki: a cream and cherry, a powdered sugar plum filling, and a glazed plum filling. Here we can see them hiding in the back.

Some cream pączki waiting...

Boy, was that ambitious to order six of these. 

These are dense, so much so that The Fisherman and I split all six doughnuts in two sittings. Even doughnut connoisseurs such as we are could not consume a whole one. Besides, it's more fun to taste the slight variations.

First we tried the cream, which turned out to be a rich whipped cream with a bit of cherry. It was definitely cherry pie filling, which I had no issue with. Creamy, with a sweet tart cherry bite. Quite tasty.

Next, the powdered sugar plum filling. The plum filling, while sparse, was delicious. Any more would have been ridiculously sweet. The filling also had some rose water flavor, which to the uninitiated could be weird. Many Middle Eastern/Greek/Persian desserts utilize rose water and other floral waters as flavorings, ranging from incredible to tasting like you had to eat soap because you said a bad word.

In this case, it was really incredible. It really made the plum shine, as opposed to mushed prune taste, it brightened it against all that sugar and fat. Really nice. I think this was The Fisherman's favorite because it was the least intimidating in terms of richness.

Here, my pup is very curious about what we're eating, and is quite miffed we aren't sharing, yet. 

For me, my favorite is the glazed plum filling. Sure, the sugar is sticky in this one (more fun if you ask me), but the slight vanilla flavor from the glaze also adds another dimension, and plays against the plum/rosewater filling. 

One thing I didn't love was the seemingly overcooked taste of the dough, like it was fried way too long. But from the other pączki we saw, that color seems to be the norm.

In the end, it's always fun to visit my ancestral homeland (before I moved to Queens), and to feel like a stranger among others with similar last names, to feel like I belong, but I really don't. It's odd, but it's an adventure nonetheless. It makes me happy to know that after moving over twenty years ago, very little has changed in Greenpoint. I like returning to feel a little closer to a side of me that I'm quite unfamiliar, but am trying to rebuild, for me, and perhaps for my kids. We shall see. 

Up next, another culinary adventure...until then, mangia! And a happy Mardi Gras as well!

This Town Was Made For Us: The Lower East Side, Chinatown and Little Italy (Not So Much)

I am a liar, I apologize, but I have a REALLY good reason! I had all good intentions to write about Kyedong, but then I realized I wouldn’t really be doing it justice. Sure, we had some chicken and fries, and yes, they were amazing. 

I think though, that this experience would be even more awesome with, what else, but beer. Specifically Killians, because it’s either that or Coors or something like that. Besides, everyone knows redheads are a ticket to a blast of a time! So, I think Kyedong deserves a second trip, and once that happens, I will certainly have more to write on.

But I digress, and offer something even better, I hope. A long-awaited trip to the Lower East Side and  Chinatown/Little Italy. So the first cool thing about NYC, and one of the many reasons why I love calling this place home, are all the little enclaves of different ethnic groups. Probably the most well known ones in NYC are Chinatown and Little Italy (although we have two Chinatowns in Queens, Elmhurst and Flushing, and one in Brooklyn, and there are some very Italian areas of NYC, like the Rockaways and Staten Island. Jersey Shore much?)

I run into one of my fav celebrities, and even though I was trying not to be a fan girl, I totally had to get a picture! 

 I also love how the two are next to each other and intertwine, much like The Fisherman and I, awww <3 You’ll see an Italian deli, then across the street, a Chinese produce shop., It makes me feel a bit like something is good, something is right, with The Fisherman and I being together. You don't think it makes sense but it does, like Wendy's fries and a Frosty. When it comes to this part of Manhattan, the sign says it all.

Anyway, we wandered around, hit up the original Doughnut Plant on Grand Street on the Lower East Side. While it was cool to see the original Mmmmm Mecca, I like the Chelsea one more because there’s actually room to sit, enjoy, breathe. I don’t want to go too far off the beaten path, but we got some doughnuts, peach, banana nut, blackout (chocoliciousfantasorgasmic), and tres leches, our fav, also known to me as Luscious Lecheliciousness! Remember kids, don’t pay for air in your doughnuts. Go for the dense, yumminess of cake doughnuts. You’ll thank me. 

 

So after a breakfast of champions, we wander around Chinatown, The Fisherman's old stomping grounds. Good thing one of us knows where to go, because I would just wander until I got lost, then hope I find Canal Street. After walking we find Noodletown, The Fisherman's fav noodle place. I now know why.

As I explained to him, for Americans, broth plays second fiddle to the noodles, veg, meat, etc. in a soup. I mean come on, we are boullion freaks, Lipton reigns supreme, our broth is basically salt and MSG. Broth elsewhere, like in China, is a big deal, it's the reason to have soup. Sure, they get help from MSG too, but not in the same way (MSG is also is great at setting off my migraines, boo MSG, for getting between me and dim sum!!) 

One word of caution: some people can taste this, like The Fisherman and I, but not everyone can. The noodles being used in our soup here, and in other Asian fooderies are processed in some kind of way that involves using an alkaline solution to create a firmer texture. Eggs used to be used for this purpose, but when eggs got too expensive, the alkaline process became the norm. If the noodles aren't washed enough, it'll have a very, very faint aroma of ammonia. When I first encountered it I was a bit concerned. It is well worth the trip, and most people don't even notice it, I'd say give it a shot.

I also got to try my first good Chinese doughnut or youtiao, or yau ja gwai in Cantonese. It's actually a misnomer because while it is a doughnut, it's savory, not sweet. It's usually eaten for breakfast with congee or juk as a textural contrast. Congee, or juk in Chinese, is a rice porridge, similar to farina, oatmeals, grits, etc. And here's a cool fact about youtiao that The Fisherman told me, as confirmed by Wikipedia: 

"The Cantonese name yàu hja gwái literally means "oil-fried devil" and, according to folklore, is an act of protest against Song Dynasty official Qin Hui, who is said to have orchestrated the plot to frame the general Yue Fei, an icon of patriotism in Chinese culture. It is said that the food, originally in the shape of two human-shaped pieces of dough but later evolved into two pieces joined in the middle, represents Qin Hui and his wife, both having a hand in collaborating with the enemy to bring about the great general's demise. Thus the youtiao is deep fried and eaten as if done to the traitorous couple. In keeping with the legend, youtiao are often made as two foot-long rolls of dough joined along the middle, with one roll representing the husband and the other the wife.^[6]

Neat!! Anyway, the yau ja gwai was really good, anything fried is good fresh, and this was awesome!

After Noodletown we wandered around a bit more (sadly our trip was a bit short since I was dealing with a three-day migraine, boo! Hence our Little Italy side of things didn't happen, double triple boo!!!), but we did run into something I read about on the interwebz, dragon beard candy. This guy was selling them from a cart, like many fine comestibles here and around the city. 

I was so excited! The Fisherman's mom loves these, so I was trying very hard to let her have some first before we nommed the whole container. 

I was feeling quite spiffy with my dragon beard candy.

Quite, indeed, monocle!

Next, I wanted to do a run through of my first Mooncake Festival, this year in early September. Now I see what the fuss is about, although it is a bit interesting. Until then, mangia!

Sweet Treat! A Visit to Doughnut Plant

One week, way back in March, the Fisherman and I took off from work to go on "staycation." Sure, traveling is fun and all, but who has $$ like that now? Besides, we live in one of the greatest cities in the world, so why not explore it?

So anyway, we took a trip into NYC one day for some fun times. I work in Manhattan, but I don't exactly explore it very much, since I'm here usually going to or coming from work. The Fisherman works in Jersey, so he literally passes through Manhattan, but not much else.

After seeing something on either Food Network or Travel Channel about Doughnut Plant, the Fisherman was very excited about checking it out. Seems he's quite the fan of fried doughnutty goodness. I am also not one to turn down a doughnut, and I always like to explore something new and exciting.

Problem is, the only time we could go would be the weekend, and the lines would be insane. We'd have to go during the week when everyone else was at work. Genius!!

Then I found out one opened in Chelsea, a somewhat easier trip than the Lower East Side, and we knew then that we had to check it out.

We got down there, and it was glorious!

It wasn't quite as crowded yet, but we were a little overwhelmed at the selections, and not wanting to go into a sugar induced coma, much. The flavors, the styles, (raised versus cake), it was like the doughnut Shangra-La.

After calming down a bit, we settle on our choices:

From left: vanilla bean yeast doughnut, pistachio cake, tres leches cake, valrohna chocolate yeast, and vanilla with blackberry jelly yeast doughnut, washed down with some house coffee.

Now, these are not your chain-store doughnuts, but any stretch. But these are definitely a treat, which doughnuts really should be, anyway. The yeast ones were good, but by nature, very airy. I think we were overall happier with the cakey consistency ones.

Here's the Fisherman enjoying one, he almost could fit that whole thing in his mouth. He would easily fit in among a family of Italians.

Then there's me, wearing this shirt for this very special occasion for a semi-hardcore Simpsons fan. Mmmmm, doughnuts...

And at the end of our coffee...

Ha, looks like a nipple. Because the Fisherman and I are nothing if not mature, serious adults, sometimes.

Doughnut Plant does make amazing doughnuts, I hope they keep up the good work, definitely a great experience. I am sure we will back.