Vareniki

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, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Dumplings most likely originated in Asia and came to Europe via trade in the Middle Ages. The widely-used English name pierogi was derived from Polish. In some parts of Eastern Europe they are known as varenyky''.'' Pierogi are also popular in modern-day American and Canadian cuisine, where they are sometimes known under different local names.

Typical fillings include potato, cheese, quark, sauerkraut, ground meat, edible mushrooms, and/or fruits. Savory pierogi are often served with a topping of sour cream, fried onions, or both.

Terminology

The English word "pierogi" comes from Polish ' , which is the plural form of ' , a generic term for filled dumplings. It derives from Old East Slavic (') and further from Proto-Slavic *pirъ, "feast". While dumplings as such are found throughout Eurasia, the specific name ''pierogi'', with its Proto-Slavic root and its cognates in the West and East Slavic languages, including Russian (', "pie") and (', "small pies"), shows the name's common Slavic origins, antedating the modern nation states and their standardized languages. In most of these languages the word means "pie".

Among Ukrainians and the Ukrainian diaspora, they are known as ''varenyky''. The word is the plural form of ('), which derives from Ukrainian (') "boiling liquid", indicating boiling as the primary cooking method for this kind of dumpling. The same term is used in the Mennonite community, sometimes spelled ''varenikie'' or ''wareniki''.

''Bryndzové pirohy'' is the Slovak term for dumplings filled with sheep milk cheese.

''Colțunași'' is the Romanian term for filled dumplings. It is derived from Greek , ''kaltsúni'', itself a borrowing from Italian calzoni.

Origins

While the origin of the pierogi is often under debate, the exact origin of the dish is unknown and unverifiable. Dumplings most likely originated in China and became widespread in Europe during the Middle Ages or later periods. Some claim that pierogi were spread by Marco Polo's expeditions through the Silk Road, thus suggesting a connection to Chinese mantou. Other sources theorize that in the 13th century, pierogi were brought by Saint Hyacinth of Poland from the Far East (Asia) via what was then the Kievan Rus'. These became characteristic to Central and East European cuisines, where different varieties (preparation methods, ingredients, fillings) were invented.

Ingredients and preparation

Fillings

Pierogi may be stuffed (singularly or in combinations) with mashed potatoes, fried onions, quark or farmer cheese, cabbage, sauerkraut, ground meat, mushrooms, spinach, or other ingredients depending on the cook's preferences. Dessert versions of the dumpling can be stuffed with sweetened quark or with a fresh fruit filling such as cherry, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, apple or plum; stoned prunes are sometimes used, as well as jam. For more flavor, sour cream can be added to the dough mixture, and this tends to lighten the dough.

Preparation

The dough, which is made by mixing flour and warm water, sometimes with an egg, is rolled flat and then cut into squares with a knife or circles using a cup or drinking glass. The dough can be made with some mashed potato, creating a smoother texture. Another variation, popular in Slovakia, uses dough made of flour and curd with eggs, salt, and water.

The filling is placed in the middle and the dough folded over to form a half circle or rectangle or triangle if the dough is cut squarely. The seams are pressed together to seal the pierogi so that the filling will remain inside when it is cooked. The pierogi are simmered until they float, drained, and then sometimes fried or baked in butter before serving or fried as leftovers. They can be served with melted butter or sour cream, or garnished with small pieces of fried bacon, onions, and mushrooms. Dessert varieties may be topped with apple sauce, jam, or ''varenye''.

File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG, Cutting the dough into circles
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG, Placing the filling into a dough pocket
File:Pierogi preparation 10.JPG, Closing the dough pocket
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG, Sealing the pierogi

Countries

Poland

Traditionally considered peasant food, pierogi eventually gained popularity and spread throughout all social classes, including the nobility. Cookbooks from the 17th century describe how during that era, the pierogi were considered a staple of the Polish diet, and each holiday had its own special kind of pierogi created. They have different shapes, fillings and cooking methods. Important events like weddings had their own special type of pierogi kurniki – baked pie filled with chicken. Also, pierogi were made especially for mournings or wakes, and some for caroling season in January. In the east baked pierogi are a common and well-liked Christmas dish. They were stuffed with potatoes, cheese, cabbage, mushrooms, buckwheat or millet. The most famous is the Biłgoraj pierogi stuffed with buckwheat, potatoes and cheese and then baked in the oven.

Pierogi are an important part of Polish festive seasons, particularly Christmas Eve (Wigilia supper) and Christmastide. They are also served during public events, markets or festivals in a variety of forms and tastes, ranging from sweet to salty and spicy. At the 2007 Pierogi Festival in Kraków, 30,000 pierogi were consumed daily.

Polish pierogi are often filled with fresh quark, boiled and minced potatoes, and fried onions. This type is called in Polish ''pierogi ruskie'', which literally means "Ruthenian pierogi". Other popular pierogi in Poland are filled with ground meat, mushrooms and cabbage, or for dessert an assortment of fruits (berries, with strawberries or blueberries the most common).

Sweet pierogi are usually served with sour cream mixed with sugar, and savory pierogi with bacon fat and bacon bits. Poles traditionally serve two types of pierogi for Christmas Eve supper. One kind is filled with sauerkraut and dried mushrooms, anothersmall ''uszka'' filled only with dried wild mushroomsis served in clear ''barszcz''. ''Leniwe pierogi'' ("lazy pierogi") are a different type of food, similar to lazy vareniki (see below), ''kopytka'', or ''halušky''.

German-speaking regions

The common term ''Pirogge'' (pl. ''Piroggen'') describes all kinds of Eastern European filled dumplings and buns, including pierogi, pirozhki and pirogs. Certain types of piroggen, both boiled and baked, were common fare for Germans living in Eastern Europe and the Baltic are still prepared by their descendants living there and in Germany. In particular, baked pīrādziņi are known as ''Kurländer Speckkuchen'' ("Courland bacon/speck pies") in the cuisine of Baltic Germans.

'' Schlutzkrapfen'' closely resemble pierogi; they are common in Tirol and northern Italy's German-speaking region of South Tyrol, and are occasionally found in Bavaria. Fillings may include meat or potatoes, but the most widespread filling is a combination of spinach and quark (''Topfen'') or ricotta. Another similar Austrian dish, known as ''Kärntner Nudel'' (Carinthian noodles), is made with a wide range of fillings, from meat, mushrooms, potato or quark to apples, pears or mint. These regional specialties differ significantly from the most common Swabian filled dumplings known as ''Maultaschen''.

Hungary

In Hungarian cuisine, the ''derelye'' is similar to pierogi, consisting of pasta pockets filled with jam, cottage cheese, or sometimes meat. Derelye is consumed primarily as a festive food for special occasions such as weddings; it is also eaten for regular meals, but this tradition has become rare.

Romania and Moldova

In Romania and Moldova, a similar recipe is called ''colțunași'', with regional varieties such as ''piroști'' in Transylvania and Bukovina regions and ''chiroște'' in Moldavia region. ''Colțunași'' is either a dessert filled with jam (usually plum), fresh sour cherries or cottage cheese, or savory, filled with dill seasoned cheese (telemea or urdă), mashed potatoes or chopped meat. The dough is made with wheat flour and the colțunași are boiled in salted water, pan-fried in oil or baked in the oven.

The word is a cognate with Slavic '' kalduny'', a type of dumplings. In both Bukovina and Transylvania, the name ''piroști'' is used in Romanian families of German or Slavic origin and the filling can also be a whole, fresh, seedless plum. The term ''colțunaș'' is used by native Romanian families and are usually filled with cottage cheese or quark and served topped with sour cream smântână, traditionally called ''colțunași cu smântână''.

Russia

''Vareniki'' are most often filled with potatoes (sometimes mixed with mushrooms), quark cheese, cabbage, beef, and berries. They can be topped with fried onions and bacon, or butter, and served with sour cream. This Ukrainian dish became especially popular in Russia during the Soviet period, when it became part of the menu of public catering and international Soviet cuisine. Pelmeni are significantly different; they are smaller, shaped differently and usually filled with ground meat (pork, lamb, beef, fish) or mushrooms as well as salt, pepper and sometimes herbs and onions.

In modern Russian, Pirozhki always mean a baked, in oven, or sometimes in a frying pan, usually under the lid, dough with filling. For dough with fillings, cooked in boiling water, exact naming is used - vareniki, pelmeni, pozy (steamed) etc.

Russian Mennonite cuisine

Due to centuries of close-knit community and mass migration from the Netherlands, northern Prussia, the Russian Empire and the Americas, the Russian Mennonites developed a unique ethnicity and cuisine. In Russian Mennonite cuisine the pierogi is more commonly called ''vereniki'' and almost always is stuffed with cottage cheese and served with a thick white cream gravy called ''schmaunt fat''. Russian Mennonites will also stuff the ''vereniki'' with fruit such as Saskatoon berries or blueberries. It is often accompanied with farmer sausage (''formavorscht'') or ham. Mennonite-style ''vereniki'' is no longer common in Poland, Russia or Ukraine, but is very common in the Canadian prairies, Chihuahua, Mexico, Paraguay, Bolivia and other places where Russian Mennonites settled.

Slovakia

A traditional dish in Slovak cuisine is , dumplings filled with salty cheese mixed with mashed potatoes. are served with some more (mixed with milk or sour cream, so it has a liquid consistency and serves as a dip) and topped with bacon or fried onion. In Slovakia, are semicircular in shape.

Along with , is one of Slovakia's national dishes.

Slovenia

''Ajdovi krapi'' (literally buckwheat carps) are a dish popular in the northeastern and Alpine regions of Slovenia. Made with buckwheat rather than wheat flour and filled with a mixture of cottage cheese (''skuta''), millet, and fried onions, they are traditionally topped with pork fat crisps, fried bacon or fried onion, but today often with butter breadcrumbs. Along with žganci and štruklji, they form a trio of buckwheat-based dishes typical of Slovenian cuisine.

United States and Canada

Pierogi were brought to the United States and Canada by Central and Eastern European immigrants. They are particularly common in areas with large Polish or Ukrainian populations, such as Pittsburgh, Chicago, and New York City (particularly in the East Village of Manhattan and Greenpoint in Brooklyn) along with its New Jersey suburbs. Pierogi were at first a family food among immigrants as well as being served in ethnic restaurants. The pierogi in America initially came from Cleveland, Ohio when the first documented sale of pierogi was made at the Marton House Tavern in Cleveland in 1928. In the post–World War II era, freshly cooked pierogi became a staple of fundraisers by ethnic churches. By the 1960s, pierogi were a common supermarket item in the frozen food aisles in many parts of the United States and Canada, and are still found in grocery stores today.

Numerous towns with Central and Eastern European heritage celebrate the pierogi. They have become a symbol of Polish-American cultural identity. Many families make them together for Christmas. The city of Whiting, Indiana, celebrates the food at its Pierogi Fest every July. Pierogis are also commonly associated with Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland, there are yearly events such as the Slavic Village Pierogi Dash and the Parma Run-Walk for Pierogies. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania also celebrates pierogi. There is a " pierogi race" at every home Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game. In the race, six runners wearing pierogi costumes race toward a finish line. In 1993, the village of Glendon, Alberta erected a roadside tribute to this culinary creation: a 25-foot (7.6 m) fibreglass perogy (preferred local spelling), complete with fork."World's Largest Pierogi"
in Glendon, Alberta, from bigthings.ca

The United States has a substantial pierogi market because of its large Central and Eastern European immigrant populations. Unlike other countries with newer populations of European settlers, the modern pierogi is found in a wide selection of flavors throughout grocery stores in the United States. Many of these grocery-brand pierogi contain non-traditional ingredients to appeal to American tastes, including spinach, jalapeño and chicken.

Pierogi enjoyed a brief popularity as a sports food when Paula Newby-Fraser adopted them as her food of choice for the biking portion of the 1989 Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. For more than a decade thereafter, Mrs. T's (the largest American pierogi manufacturer) sponsored triathlons, some professional triathletes and "fun runs" around the country. For many triathletes, pierogi represented an alternative to pasta as a way to boost their carbohydrate intakes.

According to pierogi manufacturer Mrs. T's, based in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, pierogi consumption in the United States is largely concentrated in a geographical region dubbed the "Pierogi Pocket", an area including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Chicago, Detroit, parts of the northern Midwest and southern New England which accounts for 68 percent of annual US pierogi consumption.

Ukraine

Varenyky in Ukraine are a popular national dish, served both as a common everyday meal and as a part of some traditional celebrations, such as Christmas Eve Supper, Ukrainian: Свята вечеря (Sviata Vecheria or Svyata Vecherya, literally Holy Supper). In some regions in or bordering modern-day Western Ukraine, particularly in Carpathian Ruthenia and Galicia, the terms ''varenyky'', ''pedaheh'' and ''pyrohy'' are used to denote the same dish. However, Ukrainian varenyky are often not pan-fried.

The name of a popular type of Polish pierogi, ''pierogi ruskie'' ("Ruthenian pierogi"), is related to Rus', the historical region and naming of Eastern Slavs and the ancient kingdom from which Ukrainians descend.

Varenyky are considered by Ukrainians as one of their national dishes and plays a fundamental role in Ukrainian culture. Contrary to many other countries that share these dumplings, Ukrainians tended to use fermented milk products (Ukrainian: ''kysle moloko'' or Ryazhanka) to bind the dough together; however, today eggs tend to be used instead. Typical Ukrainian fillings for varenyky include cottage cheese, potato, boiled beans, mushy peas, cabbage, plum, currants, cherries (and other fruits), potato and cheese, meat, fish and buckwheat.

In Ukraine, varenyky are traditionally topped with sour cream (Ukrainian: сметана, ''smetana'') and butter, as well as with fried onions and fried pieces of bacon or pork fat (Ukrainian: ''shkvarky''). Whilst traditionally savory, varenyky can also be served as a dessert by simply substituting the filling of the dumpling to a sweeter one. Dessert varenyky fillings include sour cherry, blueberries, sweet cottage cheese and other fruits. The central regions of Ukraine are known for their more unusual varenyky, Poltava being known for its flour varenyky filling, in which the dumplings are filled with a mixture of flour, lard and fried pieces of bacon.

Varenyky are so beloved in Ukraine that a yearly festival commemorating them is held at the Ukrainian ski resort town of Bukovel in the Carpathian Mountains. In 2013, a snow monument to varenyky was made in Bukovel, and was submitted to the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as the biggest snow varenyk in the world.

In Ukraine, varenyky are not just a national dish, but also played a symbolic and ritualistic role. Ukrainian ancestors equated varenyky with a young moon since they have a similar shape, and used the dumplings as part of pagan and sacrificial rituals. For example, cheese varenyky would be sacrificed near water springs, and years ago farmers also believed that varenyky helped bring a rich harvest, so they took homemade dumplings with them to the fields.

Canada has a large Polish population, as well as Ukrainian populations, and pierogi (known locally as perogies) are common throughout the country. The Canadian market for pierogi is second only to that of the U.S. market, the latter having been the destination of choice for the majority of Central and Eastern European immigrants before and during World War II.

Packed frozen pierogi can be found wherever Central and Eastern European immigrant communities exist and are generally ubiquitous across Canada, even in big chain stores. Typically frozen flavors include analogs of ''ruskie pierogi'' filled with potato and either Cheddar cheese, onion, bacon, cottage cheese or mixed cheeses. Homemade versions are typically filled with either mashed potatoes (seasoned with salt and pepper and often mixed with dry curd cottage cheese or cheddar cheese), sauerkraut, or fruit. These are then boiled, and either served immediately, put in ovens and kept warm, or fried in oil or butter. Popular fruit varieties include strawberry, blueberry, and saskatoon berry.

Potato and cheese or sauerkraut versions are usually served with some or all the following: butter or oil, sour cream (typical), fried onions, fried bacon or kielbasa (sausage), and a creamy mushroom sauce (less common). Some ethnic kitchens will deep-fry perogies; dessert and main course dishes can be served this way.

The frozen varieties are sometimes served casserole-style with a mixture of chopped ham, onions, peppers and cheddar cheese or with an Italian-style mixture of ground beef, onions and tomato sauce.

National chain restaurants in Canada feature the dish or variations. Boston Pizza has a sandwich and a pizza flavored to taste like pierogies, while Smitty's serves theirs as an appetizer deep-fried with a side of salsa.

Lazy pierogi and lazy varenyky

''Lazy varenyky'' ( uk, книдлі, ліниві вареники, russian: ленивые вареники) in Ukrainian and Russian cuisine or ''leniwe pyrohy'' in Rusyn are gnocchi-shaped dumplings made by mixing domashniy sir (curd cheese) with egg and flour into quick dough. The cheese-based dough is formed into a long sausage about thick, then cut diagonally into gnocchi, called halushky in Ukrainian and Rusyn, ''halušky'' in Czech, and ''galushki'' in Russian. The dumplings are then quickly boiled in salted water and served with sour cream or melted butter. The name "lazy varenyky" faithfully reflects the very quick preparation time of the dish: It usually takes 10 to 15 minutes from assembling the simple ingredients to serving the cooked dumplings. Lazy varenyky differ from standard varenyky in the same way that Italian gnocchi differ from ravioli or tortellini: these are fluffy solid dumplings, not stuffed pockets of dough. The same dish in Polish cuisine is called ''lazy pierogi'' ( pl, leniwe pierogi).

Image:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg, ''Pierogi leniwe'' – Polish style, garnished with cinnamon

In culture

Pierogi have their own patron saint: "Święty Jacek z pierogami!" ( St. Hyacinth and his pierogi!) is an old Polish expression of surprise, roughly equivalent to the English language "good grief" or American "holy smokes!" The origin of this expression is unknown.

In Ukrainian literature varenyky appeared as a symbol of national identity, sometimes stressing its distinction from Russian. In the poem by Stepan Rudansky ''Varenyky-Varenyky'' (1858), a Russian soldier asks a Ukrainian countrywoman to cook varenyky for him. However, he cannot think of the word "varenyky", while the woman pretends not to understand him.

The Great Pittsburgh Pierogi Race N'at, commonly called the Great Pierogi Race, is an American mascot race between innings during a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game that features six contestants racing in giant pierogi costumes: Potato Pete (blue hat), Jalapeño Hannah (green hat), Cheese Chester (yellow hat), Sauerkraut Saul (red hat), Oliver Onion (purple hat), and Bacon Burt (orange hat).

Monuments

A monument to varenyky was inaugurated in Cherkasy, Ukraine in September 2006.A monument to vareniki in Cherkasy, Ukraine
; also see a news item o
gpu.ua
27 September 2006 . The monument erected at the entrance to a hotel depicts Cossack Mamay (a Ukrainian folklore hero whose fondness for varenyky was narrated by Taras Shevchenko and Nikolay Gogol) eating varenyky from an earthenware pot, with a huge crescent-shaped varenyk behind him.

A monument to halushky was inaugurated in Poltava, Ukraine in 2006.A monument to halushky in Poltava, Ukraine
In 1991, a giant -tall pierogi statue on a fork was erected in the village of Glendon in Alberta, Canada. In January 2010, a pierogi statue was proposed to be erected in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

See also

* Pelmeni
* Momo
* Eastern European cuisine
* Kalduny
* Kreplach
* List of stuffed dishes
* Pampuchy
* Speķrauši
* Syrniki
* Uszka
* Jiaozi
* Manti
* Naleśniki
* Gujiya
* Empanada
* Romani cuisine
* Mennonite cuisine

Notes

References

External links

*
*
The Pierogi Renaissance: How Poland's Most Famous Dish is Reinventing Itself

{{Dumplings

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