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Inside Cleveland's Sweet Fat Tuesday Tradition

Image by Brent Hofacker via Shutterstock

A paczki (pronounced "poonch-key") is a Polish pastry traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday, the day before Christians begin Lent. ideastream's Gabriel Kramer and Lisa Ryan traveled to Rudy's Strudel in Parma to speak with the bakery's matriarchs and hear how they develop new paczki recipes -- filling the donuts not just with jelly, but all manner of tasty concoctions. They also spoke with Rudy’s loyal customers, many of whom started lining up before dawn to get their hands on one last pre-Lenten treat.

Gabriel Kramer is a reporter/producer and the host of “NewsDepth,” Ideastream Public Media's news show for kids.