Bugnes are a culinary speciality from central-eastern France, including Lyon and Saint-Étienne, closely related to beignets. Traditionally, Lyon cold meat shops sold bugnes just before Lent, due to their high fat content. They are also made in the home as a way of using surplus cooking fat, which would be wasted during Lent. More recently, bakeries make them, respecting more or less the tradition of Lent. City motto: Avant, avant, Lion le melhor. ... Location within France Saint-Étienne is a city in the central eastern part of France, 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Lyon. ... A beignet (pronounced ben-YAY, at least in New Orleans) is a pastry made from fried dough and sprinkled with confectioners sugar. ... In Western Christianity, Lent is the forty-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday (Pascha). ...

There are two types:

• Soft bugnes or "pillows", cooked in very hot oil, with the dough spread out thinly and knotted once or twice
• Crunchy bugnes, or "bugnes lyonnaises", made with a thicker dough, rarely knotted.