The Sugary German Treat That's Symbolic Just Before Lent

Outside of schnitzel and the wide range of Oktoberfest sausages, you'd be forgiven if you're not up to date with German culinary staples. German cuisine hasn't been as influential on American cuisine as its European peers, with the exception of one state: Pennsylvania. As anyone who has seen "The Office" or the movie "Kingpin" knows, German traditions are alive and well in Lancaster County and the surrounding area, and perhaps no food item is more exemplary of that fact than the humble fasnacht. 

Fasnachts are a connection, not just to the German heritage running through the land of the Pennsylvania Dutch, but to one of humanity's oldest creations: fried dough. We as a species have been experimenting with fried dough since at least 5500 B.C., and while fasnachts might not trace their origins back quite that far, they can claim a history that dates back to the 13th century. Over the decades, the sweet pastry morphed from simple confectionary goody to a celebrated symbol of religious devotion as they became closely entwined with the holiday Lent. 

These cousins of doughnuts are made from potato flour, eggs, sugar, and lard, and they are used as a final indulgence before the sacrifices required for Lent. In order to prevent temptation and food waste during the 40 days of Lent, people took those ingredients and made a batch of fasnachts. Thus Fasnacht Day was born, celebrated on Shrove Tuesday (otherwise known as Fat Tuesday), on the final day before Lent begins.

Fasnachts are part of a vast European history of baked goods made especially for the day before Lent. The Polish have paczki, a dense, jam-filled donut, the Swedes have semla, a cream donut sandwich made from cardamon-flavored buns, and the Danes and Norwegians have a similar pastry called fastelavensboller. Out of all of these, though, fasnachts are unique in their use of potatoes for the starch. Pennsylvania bakeries and restaurants like The Shady Maple Smorgasbord, which can boast America's largest buffet, begin making the pastries in January, selling tens of thousands throughout fasnacht season.

To make fasnachts, lard is combined with sugar, salt, and scalded milk, which is brought nearly to the point of boiling and then cooled. This helps make the pastry fluffier once it interacts with milk. Then yeast, eggs, potatoes, and flour are incorporated, mixed, and allowed to rise to twice its size before being rolled into thin squares and fried.

As is natural for a dish with such a storied past, there are competing views of how fasnachts should be prepared. Purists believe that they must be square-shaped, though round versions have become acceptable. There's also debate about whether they should contain yeast, as some traditions maintain that unleavened fasnachts symbolize not rising to the temptation of sin. One thing is clear: this isn't a doughnut, meaning no holes in the middle. All the better for those of us who hunger for more fried dough.