We love Pancake Tuesday and we’re big supporters of National Pound Cake Day and World Nutella Day – yes, they are real – ask Google! We embrace all food-themed days at Quattro, and this month there was an exciting sweet entry in our calendar. 8th February was Fat Thursday – a whole 24 hours celebrating all the delicious stuff we were not supposed to eat on other days.
It’s a Christian tradition that’s really big in Poland and is celebrated across Europe on the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday to mark the start of Lent. This is when we give up something we love, like chocolate, coffee, crisps or sweets, until Easter Sunday – a Christian tradition that has become somewhat of a health trend as well as a religious practice in recent years.
Why Fat Thursday?
In a world where political correctness influences most of our parlance, this ‘day name’ stands out as a particularly unsubtle headline. It may be crass, but it’s a pretty accurate description of a day that involves eating as many fatty, sugary foods as possible before the rations of Lent kick in.
Team Quattro currently represents 8 countries and 3 continents, so we asked our team what their families like to eat to celebrate this annual event.
Fat Thursday in Poland
Fat Thursday – otherwise known as Poland’s Doughnut Day – is celebrated by eating a host of traditional treats.
Top of the list comes Pączek. It’s a huge fried doughnut filled with chocolate, marmalade or raspberry jam and glazed with sugar. Rumour has it that people eat on average three Pączek every Fat Thursday. It’s bad luck for a full year not have at least one….so they say!
These Polish doughnuts are a national phenomenon, and are often distributed as presents to staff by businesses across the country.
Faworki is also a favourite – a pastry in the shape of angel wings covered with sugar. The little pastry crisps are fried and twisted into ribbon shapes and usually sold in large family-sized boxes.
German Fat Thursday
Other European countries celebrate Fat Thursday too. In Germany it’s known as Weiberfastnacht, or Silly Thursday, and some towns hold a full-scale carnival where people dress up and parade through the streets, with days off school and work. Favourite snacks include pretzels, hot sausages (bratwurst) or krapfen, German doughnuts.
Greek Fat Thursday
In Greece Fat Thursday (known as Tsiknopempti) is all about the meat! Carnival celebrations mark the start of the last weekend that Greek Orthodox Church members can eat meat before fasting for Lent, and they go meat crazy! It’s sometimes known as Burnt Thursday as people rush to cook their meat after fasting on Wednesday and Friday – a Greek Orthodox tradition.
Fat Thursday in Spain
It’s also a meaty affair in Spain – a time to eat traditional Catalan sausages, or botifarra, as well as other sugary treats including a sweet cake called coca de llardons. Crowds gather at large public celebrations with dancing and live orchestras, and of course plenty of food.
Italy’s Fat Thursday
Giovedì Grasso – or the Italian version of Fat Thursday – sees people celebrating with dinners, parties and dancing. It’s especially popular in Venice, where masque balls are common, as well as live music and fireworks at an annual event called Flight of the Angel or the Dove, where a brave person runs down a high wire through the old town.
So, however you celebrated, we hope you enjoyed a sweet and happy Fat Thursday!