Bierock is a yeast dough
pastry
Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ...
pocket sandwich with savory filling,
originating in Prussia.
The dish is common among the
Volga German
The Volga Germans (german: Wolgadeutsche, ), russian: поволжские немцы, povolzhskiye nemtsy) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Sarato ...
community in the United States and Argentina. It was brought to the United States in the 1870s by German Russian Mennonite immigrants. It has developed strong cultural associations with the
cuisine of the Midwestern United States
Midwestern cuisine is a regional cuisine of the American Midwest. It draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Native North America, and is influenced by regionally and locally ...
.
The soft yeast rolls contain some sugar, butter and eggs, and either warm water, milk, or a mix of both. The filling is a basic mix of onion, ground beef and cabbage
which can be made more complicated by the addition of different cheese blends, condiments and seasonings like caraway seeds.
Bierock is similar to both
pirog
Pirog ( rus, пиро́г, p=pʲɪˈrok, a=Ru-пирог.ogg, pl. ''pirogi'' пироги ; be, піро́г; se, pirog; lv, pīrāgs, pl. ''pīrāgi''; uk, пиріг ''pyrih'', pl. ''pyrohy'' пироги; lt, pyragas, pl. ''pyragai''; ...
i/
pirozhki
Pirozhki ( rus, пирожки́, r=pirožkí, p=pʲɪrɐʂˈkʲi, plural form of ; uk, пиріжки, ''pyrizhky'') are Russian and Ukrainian baked or fried yeast-leavened boat-shaped buns with a variety of fillings. Pirozhki are a popular str ...
of
Russian cuisine
Russian cuisine is a collection of the different dishes and cooking traditions of the Russian people as well as a list of culinary products popular in Russia, with most names being known since pre-Soviet times, coming from all kinds of social ...
and
börek
Börek or burek are a family of pastries or pies found in the Balkans, Middle East and Central Asia. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach or potatoes. Boreks are mainly ...
of
Turkish cuisine
Turkish cuisine () is the cuisine of Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. It is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern Eur ...
. There is debate about the actual etymology of the word ''bierock''. Traditionally it was supposed that ''bierock'' was derived from the Russian word ''pirog''.
However, a recent theory speculates that the word ''bierock'' may be derived from ''börek''. This theory is based on both geographic close proximity of the former
Volga German ASSR to present day
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
as well as the influence of considerable population of historically
Turkic speaking peoples such as Kazakhs and Tatars living in the
Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...
region. Neither theory, however, has been conclusively proven.
Other spellings are ''bieroch'', ''beerock'', ''berrock'', ''bierox'', ''beerrock'', ''biddicks'', and ''kraut bierock'' in the U.S, and ''pirok'' or ''kraut pirok'' in Argentina.
In Argentina, the ''Fiesta del Pirok'' (Bierock Festival) takes place every July, in
Crespo,
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east.
Its capital is Paraná ...
.
Secretary of Tourism of Argentina
/ref>
See also
* Fleischkuekle
* Pasty
A pasty () is a British baked pastry, a traditional variety of which is particularly associated with Cornwall, South West England, but has spread all over the British Isles. It is made by placing an uncooked filling, typically meat and vegetab ...
* Pierogi
Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water. They are often pan-fried before serving.
Pierogi or their varieties are associated with the cuisines of Central, Ea ...
* Runza
* Vol-au-vent
A ''vol-au-vent'' (pronounced , French for "windblown", to describe its lightness) is a small hollow case of puff pastry. It was formerly also called a patty case. .
A ''vol-au-vent'' is typically made by cutting two circles in rolled out ...
* List of pastries
This is a list of pastries, which are small buns made using a stiff dough enriched with fat. Some dishes, such as pies, are made of a pastry casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savory ingredients.
There are fiv ...
* List of sandwiches
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
Typical recipe for bierocks
{{Pastries
American breads
German-American cuisine
German-Argentine culture
German-Russian culture in the United States
Russian cuisine
Russian Mennonite diaspora
Volga German diaspora