The vinegary sting of horseradish on top of a Polish sausage. The sweet kick of the donut-like pączki filled with raspberry jam. The chewy texture of the date, sure to give one energy after fasting all day. All these foods find their moments in the sun during spring.
Lent and Easter have their own food traditions around this time each year. In 2025, Ramadan fell around the same dates, resulting in a cultural food explosion in the area.
Pączki in the display case at Sarah Jane’s Bakery. (Davis Steen)
Don’t give up on this Polish and Ukrainian donut
Lent is a Christian tradition in which the people are encouraged to give up certain foods and indulgences. The tradition stems from the 40 days that Jesus Christ was said to have spent fasting and praying in the desert.
Many times, Christians will give up sugars and fats, both of which are found in pączki (pronounced poonch-key), a Polish and Ukrainian pastry that resembles a donut.
The pączek — more commonly known as pączki, which is the plural form — is a pastry made of a fluffier dough and filled with jelly or cream and topped with sugar, glaze or chocolate.
“They are supposed to be more like a brioche-style texture,” Jason Sawicki, the owner and executive chef at Black Duck, said. “They’re not like your typical gas station donuts.”
“Traditionally a pączek is made with powdered sugar and filled with raspberry jam,” he said. “They also can be filled with rosehip jam or custard.”
Black Duck Spirits & Hearth, 2900 Johnson St. NE, is one of the many places that serve this dessert during Lent. Across the street at Sarah Jane’s Bakery, 2853 Johnson St. NE, they fill the glass display cases with the bismark-like pastry.
“On Fridays and Saturdays, they are usually sold out by 9:30 a.m.,” Rebecca said while pulling a tray of pączki out for display. “We see a huge boom at the beginning and end of Lent.”
The pączek originally started as a Fat Thursday tradition in Poland and parts of Ukraine. Fat Thursday is the Thursday prior to Ash Wednesday, which kicks off the beginning of Lent in the Christian calendar.
The tradition has transformed since and they are now eaten on Pączki Day. Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday and Pączki Day all happen on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Places like Kramarczuk’s will only sell the pastry on Pączki Day, while others sell them throughout Lent.
“You usually give up pączki during Lent,” Sawicki said. “But that has kind of changed recently.”
Check your basket for horseradish sauce
When an onion is chopped, it generally makes a person cry. When wasabi is eaten, the feeling of the spiciness can be felt in one’s nose. Combine these two senses and you get horseradish, and the sauce made from this root vegetable, another Polish food tradition found around Easter.
“It’s potent,” Jimmy, owner of Jimmy’s Bar, 1828 4th St. NE, said when referring to the process of turning the root into sauce. “It makes your eyes water.”
The making of horseradish sauce around Easter has been a Northeast tradition since 1975. According to legend, two railroad workers, Herbie and Harold, would dig up the root and make it for all the Polish parishioners at Holy Cross.
“They used to put it in old baby food jars,” Jimmy said. “They would put it on their ham and Polish sausage.”
The process of making the horseradish sauce is intense. The root needs to be peeled and “detailed” before being processed with vinegar to make the final product.
The tie to Holy Cross, the nearby Catholic church, was because the horseradish sauce would be placed in parishioners’ Easter baskets to be blessed. It symbolizes the bitter sacrifice that Jesus made by his crucifixion.
Dates and lentil soup at Holy Land, which are given out for free to anyone in the restaurant during Ramadan. (Davis Steen)
A break fast date
Ramadan is one of the holiest months of the year for followers of Islam. For a period of 29-30 days, Muslims will fast from eating and drinking while the sun is out. According to the Islamic Network Group, this is to draw one closer to God and cultivate self-control, gratitude and compassion for those less fortunate.
“It reminds us of the people who cannot eat,” Majdi Wadi, the CEO of Holy Land, 2513 Central Ave. NE, said in a phone interview. “You are monitoring what you are eating to feel what your less fortunate neighbors feel.”
While the people practicing Islam abstain from food or drink during the day, they break their fast at sunset each night at a meal known as Iftar.
“Any Muslim house will have dates in it (during Ramadan),” Wadi said. “The most common way to break the fast is with dates and water.”
The dates are only part of it. Islamic people from different parts of the world have different needs.
“The biggest challenge is serving multiple groups,” Wadi said. “We have dates from around the world. They all eat different dates.”
The restaurant and grocery story stocks 26 different kinds of dates. The fruit comes from at least eight different countries.
“Dates were used more than 1,500 years ago,” Wadi said. “They were the main meal for people traveling the desert.”
Traditions don’t just happen once
Ramadan changes every year, generally 11 days prior to the previous year. This is because the Islamic calendar is only 354 days long and hinges on the lunar calendar. Ramadan begins with the sighting of the crescent moon.
Ramadan started on Friday, Feb. 28, this year and ended on Saturday, March 29. Next year, Ramadan will start on Tuesday, Feb. 17 and end on Thursday, March 19. The end of the month of fasting is known as Eid al-Fitr.
Fat Tuesday, or Pączki Day, was on Tuesday, March 4 this year. The beginning of Lent was Wednesday, March 5 and will continue to Easter on Sunday, April 20. Note that is more than 40 days, but many Christians do not count Sundays.
Much like Ramadan, Lent, Easter and Pączki Day change yearly based on the moon, though they use the spring equinox and the position of the moon to determine the date. Pączki Day will be Tuesday, Feb. 17 in 2026, with Lent beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 18 and Easter on Sunday, April 5.