Fat Thursday

Fat Thursday (Polish "Tłusty czwartek", German "Fetter Donnerstag", "Schmutziger Donnerstag", or in areas where carnival is celebrated "Weiberfastnacht") is a traditional Polish and German feast marking the last Thursday before Lent. Because Lent is a time of fasting, the next opportunity to feast would not be until Easter. It is similar to, but should not be confused with, the French festival of Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday"). Traditionally it is a day dedicated to eating, when people meet in their homes or cafés with their friends and relatives and eat large quantities of sweets, cakes and other meals forbidden during Lent. Among the most popular all-national dishes served on that day are pączki or berliner, fist-sized donuts filled with rose marmalade, and faworki, French dough fingers served with lots of powdered sugar.

In Italy, "Giovedì Grasso" (Fat Thursday) is celebrated, too, but is not very different from "Martedì Grasso" (Shrove Tuesday). It is also similar to the Greek custom of "Tsiknopempti" (loosely translatable as "Barbecue Thursday"), which involves the massive consumption of barbecued meat. In Spain this celebration is called "jueves lardero", and in Catalan-speaking areas, "dijous gras".

Fat Thursday by year

ee also

* Carnival
* Culture of Poland
* Polish cuisine
* Maslenitsa (a similar holiday in Russia)

External links

* [http://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Tablice_świąt_ruchomych Polish movable feasts in Polish Wikisource]