turn of the twentieth century, for example, it was marked by "masquerades, a battle of flowers on the Plaza, a general illumination and the opening of the lottery". The English writer Marie Corelli mentioned (as "Giovedi Grasso") in her second novel, Vendetta (1886), as a day when "the fooling and the mumming, the dancing, shrieking, and screaming would be at its height." Spain In Spain this celebration is called or and in Catalan-speaking areas, , a children's holiday. In Albacete in Spain community of Castille-La Mancha, or is celebrated with a round pastry with a boiled egg in the middle called . In Aragon a meal is prepared with a special sausage from Graus while in Catalonia the tradition is to eat sweet Bunyols and Botifarra d’ou. Other traditions Syrian Catholics have celebrated the day as "Drunkard's Thursday" with dolmas as the traditional food. See also Mardi Gras Maslenitsa (a similar holiday in Russia) Shrove Tuesday Tsiknopempti References External links Fat Thursday: Poland’s Tastiest Traditions on Culture.pl Polish movable feasts in Polish Wikisource European culture February observances German traditions Greek traditions Holidays based on the date of Easter Slavic carnival Observances about food and drink Polish traditions Thursday observances Easter traditions in Poland