I was going to write about something completely
different today but I was reminded that today is the Fat Thursday in Poland. Actually
I was listening to the radio news about Ukraine and the Fat Thursday seemed almost
more important than political subjects. Such is the power of tradition in
Poland. Fat Thursday is celebrated by overeating. Not only in Poland. Germans,
Hungarians, Spanish also follow this fattening tradition. Polish favourite pastries
are pączki – large deep-fried doughnuts typically filled with
rose jam or other marmalades, glazed with sugar.
Another favourites are faworki – thin dough ribbons, deep
fried until crispy and sprinkled with caster sugar.
You are meant to consume the traditional
sweets to bring you luck. The more you eat the more luck you will have. I just
realised that I am in trouble this year. There is no way I could even get one
of the mandatory sweets, in Sydney and this time of the day. It is the Thursday
evening. The best I could do was to have a piece of toast with butter (as a fat
component). I am not sure at all that I
have fulfilled the requirement of the day this way. So talking to my friend in
Poland, who was just preparing a Fat Thursday party for his family, I asked if they
could have a doughnut for me, like a drink to my health. Have a doughnut to my
luck, sort of a thing. I am not sure if this will work. But I did my best to
comply.
Every day is fat day for most Indians and it is beginning to show on our national health statistics! Life styles have changed but not our diets and the result is obesity, diabetes etc.
ReplyDeleteI have a sweet tooth and have to fight hard against indulging all the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_sweets_and_desserts
Seems that the world diet has changed not for the better.When I went to Poland 10 years ago after a long break , I was impressed how slim people in street were. Fat Thursdays did not seem to result in obesity then. It is a different story now, seems to be similar to India.
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