" " Polish fried donuts, or pączki, are seen in a window display at a bakery in Warsaw, Poland. People in Poland eat pączki, fried donuts filled with cream or jam, on Fat Thursday to mark the last Thursday before the start of Lent. Xinhua/Jaap Arriens/Getty Images You might think you've eaten a good pastry or two in your life, but you really haven't truly lived until you've tried a pączek (plural: pączki, pronounced "pawnch-kee" or "poonch-key"). This round Polish donut is a warm, fluffy treat associated closely with the pre-Lent religious holiday Fat Tuesday, or the Tuesday that falls before Ash Wednesday every year. And, let's face it — Mardi Gras wouldn't be Mardi Gras without it.