Eddy's Bake Shop in Ansonia made hundreds and hundreds of big, filling paczkis. And filling each one with its own filling filling.
"A paczki is like a donut on steroids," explained Paul Ciocca, who works at Eddy's. "It's extra big, extra heavy and extra delicious."
It's polish tradition to make them to use up all the lard and sugar in the house before lent, but at Eddy's they have another tradition, a paczki eating contest.
"The record is 13 and a half in 5 minutes," Ciocca said.
That record belongs to "Gentleman" Joe Menchetti, a world-ranked professional eater. He is the heavy favorite. Although others entered the arena with more fanfare, there's only so far confidence takes you in this competition.
There are lots of reasons people do this. A group dressed in blue participate every year to raise money to fight cancer that claimed the life of a loved one.
Michael Peterson came in second, eating 9 and a half and raising money for a charity that helps families going through medical crises.
"I was doing it for a good cause," he said. "I was taking pledges for how many I could eat for the Angel Hearts Foundation and I just had that in the back of my head as I was putting them in and..."
Gentleman Joe ate a dozen to win the $200 grand prize.
Despite tradition, the folks at Eddy's say they are going to be making and selling paczkis right up until Easter.
http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/fat-tuesday-means-paczki-eating-contest
No comments:
Post a Comment