Doughnut Day: Telford's Polish bakery celebrates sell-out 'Fat Thursday' as community embraces sweet tradition

In a similar celebration to Shrove 'Pancake' Tuesday, Tlusty Czwartek - or 'Fat Thursday' - falls on the last Thursday before Lent.

Traditionally, it's a day dedicated to indulging in rich foods such as cakes, sweets, and other dishes typically avoided during the fasting period.

In Poland, Fat Thursday is a pretty big deal - with one treat standing out above all others: pączki, a traditional filled doughnut.

It's an annual tradition that is now firmly embedded in the West Midlands, thanks largely to the success of Polish bakery chain, Masovia.

The business now has eight outlets across the region, including Wellington, Shrewsbury, Walsall, Kidderminster, and West Bromwich. 

The company is run by co-owners Greg Zajchowski, Pawel Podolal and Krzysztof Podolak, who all originally hail from Poland, with the name Masovia coming from the English translation of Mazowsze, a region in the Polish midlands.

While Greg recently told the Shropshire Star that the business was started to bring a taste of home to the UK's Polish community, their customer base was now mostly English locals enjoying the "adventure" of Eastern European food and culture. 

This year's 'Doughnut Day' was no different for the business, which had sold more than 2,000 doughnuts in it's Wellington store before 3pm on Thursday.

From opening to early afternoon, an almost-unending queue snaked through the store. Once at the counter, customers were offered nine varieties of pączki - including custard, toffee, chocolate, cheese, rose, marmalade, Bueno, Biscoff and pistachio cream. 

Operations manager, Monika Miri, was one of many members of staff who'd turned up before their 7am opening to prepare for the Fat Thursday rush.

She said: "It's been very, very busy all day - we are very tired! This year was even busier than last. We've almost sold all the doughnuts, we have just one flavour left and not many of those.

"Our customers have come from all over, we've had lots of English customers as well as different nationalities. We are so happy we can share our traditions with different cultures." 

While the chain, like many other businesses, is feeling the effects of the seemingly never-ending  'cost-of-living crisis' - it seems the economic climate is no match for progress at Masovia.

"It's difficult for us, like for everyone, but we're keeping going," said Monika.

"We actually have plans to open another store this year - maybe two if we're lucky." 

While no amount of arm-twisting could get Monika to reveal which towns the company was eyeing up next, she promised it would be in the West Midlands.

As the last of this year’s pączki disappear from the shelves, one thing is clear: Fat Thursday has become more than a Polish tradition — it’s now a West Midlands favourite. 

And with Masovia’s continued growth, it seems the region’s appetite for a little taste of Poland isn’t slowing down any time soon.