A Love Letter to Pierogi
Photo: Marcelina Palamar with permission for the CLC
When I saw this commission, I couldn’t believe my eyes – the CLC want an article on pierogi, my beloved little pierożki! As a proud Pole and pierogi connoisseur, I simply couldn’t resist and had to sit down to explain to my soon-to-be-enlightened readers why everyone and I mean everyone in Poland is so obsessed with these little guys. And why wouldn’t they be? Not only are they versatile enough to function as an appetiser, main and dessert but they come in all shapes and sizes, providing you with a truly mind-blowing culinary experience.
But first things first – what exactly am I talking about, what are pierogi? In a nutshell, they are pieces of thin, elastic, and sticky dough filled with whatever you can think of (typical fillings include potato, cheese, quark, sauerkraut, ground meat, edible mushrooms and/or fruits), and are boiled, fried, steamed, or grilled. If you are still struggling, think of Italy (ravioli, tortellini), Russia (pelmeni), Ukraine (varenyky), and even Kazakhstan (manty). Pierogi, then, are a member of this wide-reaching and extensive family of dough creations that span all across the world. The culinary concept itself is said to have come from China and probably arrived in Poland around the thirteenth century.
The most popular type of pierogi you will come across is called pierogi ruskie. This name, which misleadingly translates to Russian pierogi, actually has nothing to do with Russia. Despite this, many Poles fall into that trap and the name has been a source of heated debate since the Russian invasion - so much so, in fact, that some restaurants stopped calling them pierogi ruskie, instead calling them Ukrainian, or simply pierogi with quark and potatoes. What they don’t realise, however, is that the name refers to the land of Ruthenia. To further confuse matters, no one in Russia is even familiar with our pierogi ruskie, whilst our Ukrainian neighbours refer to these godly creations as Polish pierogi.
Now that we’ve established what they are not, let’s talk about their origins and preparation. There are two legends. The first goes that when Hyacinth of Poland (a Polish Dominican priest) visited the town of Kościelec in 1238, a hailstorm broke out and destroyed all the crops, leaving the locals with the terrible prospect of poverty and famine. Hyacinth told people to pray, and the next day the crops were miraculously restored. To express their gratitude, the people then treated Hyacinth to pierogi made from these crops. The second legend mentions Hyacinth feeding people with pierogi during a famine caused by the Mongol invasion of 1241. And if two legends weren’t enough, we have derived an exclamation featuring the patron of pierogi: Święty Jacku z pierogami!, which is now a pretty outdated way to call for help in hopeless circumstances.
To prepare these delights, you need to mix flour, water, and salt to make the dough, and then mix quark, fried onion and potatoes for the filling. You then roll the dough, cut it into circles, fill it with the mixture, close it with your fingers and drop it into a pan of boiling water. Serve with fried pork fat, fried onion, or sour cream (śmietana).
Pierogi are not only a staple food of Polish cuisine, but for many, myself included, they symbolise home, grandma’s cooking, a sense of belonging, and security. The first thing I say to both of my grandmas when I visit Poland is “can we make some pierogi?”. The tedious process (our family is a big one, so we usually make around 100 pierogis) takes hours, but we enjoy making the dough together, cutting the circles, asking one another to check the seasoning… It’s a bonding activity, one that builds trust. After all, what we produce with our hands we serve to our closest ones, and we don’t want to present them with poorly made food.
There is something deeply soothing in producing one pieróg after another, as your hands master the precise movements of making the decorative folds holding the filling together, you begin to reflect, to really wonder how many generations stood where I am, making the exact same dish with their relative? It’s a dish that is eternal and forms a central part of our culture, as every family appreciates it greatly, taking their time and effort to gather together to make the little pierożki, fill them with love, and serve them with the biggest and proudest smiles.
I am yet to find a person who doesn’t like them and trust me, I have tried to spread the pierogi word as far as I can!
Spreading the pierogi love - Marcelina Palamar with permsision for the CLC