Troy

Paczki Day packs a punch locally

TROY — Clawson resident John Arko stopped into the Polish Market on Maple for a couple dozen paczki Feb. 16 on his way to work at ABC Warehouse on John R and 14 Mile.

He used to live downriver, and got his paczki in Hamtramck. “This line is almost as long,” he said.

The Polish Market on Maple typically sells more than 30,000 paczki on Fat Tuesday, the day before Catholics celebrate Ash Wednesday, traditionally a day of fasting and prayer before the start of Lent.

At an estimated 420 calories and 25 grams of fat a pop, the sugary pastries — filled with everything from strawberry, blueberry, apricot and rose to custard, raspberry, prune, cherry, chocolate pudding and lemon fillings — pack a wallop.

The confections are made in Hamtramck, next to the Polish Market store on Trowbridge, and are trucked to the Troy and Macomb Township stores.

Custard is the most popular filling, said Mary Ann White, manager of the Troy store. “They’re flying off the shelves.”

That said, Polish speakers like the rose-flavored filling, which is made with the inside of real rose petals, Polish Market General Manager Ed Mepham said. Roses are also used to make tea and jam for the market.

Sterling Heights resident Marsha Johnson, a sales manager at Auburn Pharmaceutical in Troy, said she had never tasted one before this Fat Tuesday. She purchased four dozen for her co-workers. “I drive past here all the time and I wanted something authentic,” she said.

— Terry Oparka