Believe it or not, 2020 has already brought us to the season of Lent (which begins this Wednesday, February  26^th – also known as “Ash Wednesday”).  In Christian circles, Lent is the forty-day period leading up to Easter (modeled after Christ’s forty day trial in the desert), where observers are to replicate Jesus’s sacrifice by following a strict lifestyle of prayer, contemplation, and denial in preparation for the coming Easter celebrations (Lent ends on Good Friday – which is on Friday, April 10th).

Leading up to Ash Wednesday is a wide variety of worldwide celebrations and parties, where revelers are encouraged to get all of their hedonistic tendencies out of their system in preparation for Lent.  Think ‘Carnival’ in Rio or ‘Mardi Gras’ in New Orleans.  The culmination of these celebrations is the day before Ash Wednesday, known as Fat Tuesday (actually, the literal translation of the French term – “Mardi Gras”) or Shrove Tuesday.  It’s supposed to be the last day of eating fatty, rich foods prior to the start of the more pious and subdued time of self-denial to observe Lent.

That’s enough of the history lesson.

Locally, ‘Fat Tuesday’ means only one thing.

It’s fastnacht season!

The name of this sweet and decadent snack stems from the area’s Pennsylvania Dutch traditions and heritage.  Taken from German, it means “the night before the fast”.  There can be several varieties and ingredients (some are made from yeast, some from baking powder, and yet another version is made with potatoes and yeast), but the one thing in common is that they are made with lard, sugar, butter, and eggs – all ingredients that demonstrate the rich and fatty lifestyle that is to be avoided while observing Lent.  Traditionally square in shape, these soft pillows of fried dough are crisp on the outside and slathered in glaze or cinnamon-sugar[1] .  If you’re not a local, think square doughnuts and you’ll get the idea.

Lots of places offer them this time of year, but one of the most popular to get fastnachts locally is at Krumpe’s Do-Nuts in Hagerstown, MD.  Patrons line up around the block for a box of hot and fresh fastnachts, and the store usually stays open round the clock from early Monday morning (the week of Fat Tuesday) until the wee hours of Ash Wednesday morning to try and keep up with demand.

If you’re a fan of doughnuts in general, I can’t recommend the fastnacht enough (no matter where you get one – as long as it’s fresh).  It’s a great excuse to pound fried, sugary dough on a Tuesday, and you can always turn over a new leaf of denial and sacrifice the following day to atone for your gluttonous sins.

So if you get the chance, grab a dozen (or more) of these sweet treats and chow down.  As they say in New Orleans, “laissez le bon temps rouler!” – or “let the good times roll!”

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[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Fastnacht (Pennsylvania Dutch),” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fastnacht_(Pennsylvania_Dutch)&oldid=941094765 (accessed February 20, 2020).