Top 4 Traditional Mardi Gras Foods

Mardi Gras– also known as Fat Tuesday– includes the practice of eating rich and fatty foods before Ash Wednesday starts the Lenten season. Although we can’t celebrate with carnival this year, we can still indulge in the traditional Mardi Gras foods, and sport the colors purple, green, and gold! The colors have special meanings to the holiday, purple signifies justice, green signifies faith, and gold signifies power. If you want to satisfy your hunger with Mardi Gras traditional food, Berwyn has you covered, here are the top 4 traditional Mardi Gras Foods you can find.

This pastry is deep-fried dough filled with confiture or other sweet fillings. The Paczki is from Polish descent and are primarily eaten once a year on Fat Tuesday. Sometimes there are even Paczki eating contests, which coincidently take place in the Chicago suburbs! Visit Vesecky’s Bakery in Berwyn to enjoy a Paczki!

The traditional Mardi Gras Paczki will be available on Monday, February 15th and Tuesday, February 16th. Call and order now!

Paczki Fillings:

· Poppy seed

· Strawberry

· Apricot

· Raspberry

· Prune jam

· Apple

· Vanilla custard

· Lemon custard

This tasty baked good is a combination of a French pastry and coffee cake. The traditional cake is oval shaped and decorated with the Mardi Gras colors purple, green, and gold. The oval shape symbolizes the unity of faiths. It is believed that King Cake originated from France and was brought to New Orleans in the 1870s.

The Po’boy’s sandwich came to be from a streetcar strike. Workers decided to start a sandwich shop in New Orleans. This sandwich is a staple Mardi Gras food because of the local culture. Original Po’boy’s consisted of potatoes and gravy, but today they have meats like fried seafood.

Get a Grilled Shrimp Po’boy Sandwich from Big Guy’s Sausage Stand to celebrate Mardi Gras! Try a Po’boy with their famous Burlesque sauce. Order through their website, or through Grubhub for delivery.

This sandwich originated in New Orleans, but specifically the French Quarter in roughly 1906. The sandwich was created by Salvatore Lupo who was a Sicilian immigrant. He made it for Sicilian truck farmers to simplify lunchtime. Muffuletta is associated with Mardi Gras because of how integrated it became to the New Orleans culture. Try Flapjack Brewery’s take on the classic Mardi Gras Muffuletta. The Muffuletta Panuozzo is available on Sundays from 11am-4pm. Call to order your sandwich or order online!