An exciting collaboration, Polish in its origins but most Israeli there is, created the local version of “pączek”- a doughnut that does not need fireworks and confetti, does not require tall towers and floors of an extroverted impression. Like that, as it is, perfect! This Hanukkah miracle is the product of the connection between Amita pastry house in Tel Aviv and the Polish Institute, the institution that aims to present to Israelis the rich mosaic of Poland. And culture is also doughnuts, of course, as they are.
The pączek, an everyday Polish hit that doesn’t need a special holiday to heat the oil, was happily performed by Michal Bouton and Anna Shapiro from Amita, and made them reconnect, and in the most fun way possible, with the craziness of the Hanukkah holiday. “We’ve always kind of run away from Hanukkah,” Bouton admitted, “and over the years we’ve managed to build our own place within Israel’s donut festival. To preserve and respect the tradition and the classics, but without compromising on what’s important to us – the taste, and the way.”
This taste, and especially this way, attracted the Polish Institute to Amita, and its feminine perspective closed everything into a real doughnut hug – doughnuts filled with rose jam and glazed with white fondant with candied orange decorations, which Polish grandmothers and Israeli bakers gather around the same frying pan. Together.
“It’s a lovely doughnut, small-big, classic in appearance but deep-tasting, and brings you back for more and more. Exactly what we like to eat and exactly what we like to make” Bouton said, “roses are a wonderful ingredient, and we celebrated with them. The whole kitchen was filled with flowers and it’s a very fun smell that whispers to the field strawberries and fruits we work with on a regular basis. The ability to stay in the more modest place of Hanukkah and yet provide such an impression really turned us on.”
The Polish-style doughnut can be found at the two Amita pastry houses in Tel Aviv:
10, Salame St.
27 Bialik St
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Kosher food in Poland – a tourist
