National pierogies day - October 8th!!! While youre frying up some eggs and bacon, were cooking up something else: a way to celebrate todays food holiday. Pierogies are Eastern Europe’s equivalent of ravioli or tortellini - essentially filled dumplings. This peasant dish originated in Poland in the 13th century, and hasn’t changed much since. Let’s start with the name, just to clear things up. You’ll probably see it spelled pierogi, pirohgi, pierogie or any combination thereof. Merriam-Webster spells it pierogi, which is also the internationally accepted standard spelling. Pierogi is actually the plural of pierog, so saying pierogies is a little redundant but socially accepted. Now for the dough. Back in the day, the dough was made simply with flour and water. These days, some dough recipes use eggs, and sometimes even sour cream. The dough is rolled out and cut into circles. The circles are filled and then sealed and boiled. After boiling, they may be pan sautéed or fried for some texture and color. As for the filling, traditional pierogies feature mashed potato, cheese, sauerkraut, fried onions, meat or mushrooms, but the sky’s the limit on this. There are also different fillings to celebrate different holidays and times of year. If you’re making pierogies at home, make sure theyre sealed well so you don’t lose the filling during the cooking process. Typically pierogies are served hot, often with a sour cream dipping sauce, fried onions and applesauce. Dessert pierogies may be filled with fruit, chocolate or sweet cheese.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 02:04:06 +0000