In praise of Perogies!

[Natalka]

My oldest sister sent me this short video - it's cute...

http://vimeo.com/34570314

[Momof3girlies]

Yum! Now you got me craving perogies.. 'getting me all emotional' LOL

[Chantel]

I've been craving perogies too because of you, thanks a lot Have to wait for the store ones to go on sale.

[rollei]

Delicious, love them!

[Darth Penguin]

I promised Penguinette 2 I'd make some over the holidays..She loved the recipe that Natalka PM-ed me over hte summer.

[Natalka]

Glendon, AB (NE of Edmonton) - World Largest Pyrogy built in 1991, 27 feet tall






To go with it, a stop in Mundare AB to get some kubasa (best ever!) and see the giant garlic sausage!

[Natalka]

Varenyk monument in Synky village, Ukraine

[Natalka]

...about what to call them -

One of the most popular traditional Galician dishes, consisting of boiled dumplings of unleavened dough stuffed with varying ingredients, is known as pyrohy, pierogi or varenyky.

Looking from a linguistic angle, a distinction should be made between “pyrohy” as a west-Ukrainian word, “pierogi” as a Polish name and “varenyky” as an east-Ukrainian name.

Pierogi (Polish pronunciation: [pjɛˈrɔɡʲi]; also spelled perogi, pierogy, perogy, pierógi, pyrohy, pirogi, pyrogie, or pyrogy; juvenile diminutive form: Pierożki Polish pronunciation: [pjɛˈrɔʂki] also in use) are dumplings of unleavened dough – first boiled, then they are baked or fried usually in butter with onions – traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit. Of central and eastern European provenance, they are usually semicircular, but are rectangular or triangular in some cuisines.
The Polish word pierogi is plural;^[1] the singular form pieróg is rarely used, as a typical serving consists of several pierogi.
Pierogi are similar to the Russian pelmeni or Ukrainian varenyky and are not to be confused with pirozhki (the Russian word for stuffed fried buns) or a pirog (the Russian word for "pie"). Polish pierogi ruskie are similar to the Ukrainian varenyky in version with potatoes and cottage cheese (quark).

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My dad, and other ancestors, came from Western Ukraine, so we called them пироги = pyrohy (peh-roe-heh') in our home. (roll that "r")

Around where we live, the words perogy/perogies are most often used, although you see the spelling pierogies occasionally.

[alohamom]

Thanks for the great video Natalka! My baba called them pyrohy and this is what I have taught my children too. Interesting thing she told me once, the pyrohy, the cabbage roll and other foods like this were made compact and smallish to be eaten with the fingers as not all peasants could afford utensils to eat with and they also needed to be able to take the food to the fields to eat by hand. I dont know how true this is but she also told me that the poorer peoples ate the potato variety where as the richer folks ate ones with fruit, meat etc-cherries were for the very rich so she always made a small batch of these to show off a bit! She also made the poppy seed ones, ones with prunes and saurkraut. I have never been able to make the saurkraut ones, they always fall apart on me

[SnowFlakey]

I think the word Pierogi has been kind of westernized because even in Québec, the french people call them Pierogi. So thats why i say its been westernized. My mom would make pyrohy with potatoes and cheddar cheese (my favorite), also with sour croute but those were baked pyrohy. During the summer, she would make blueberry or plum pyrohy and we would eat them with sugar as a dessert. I used to make pyrohy but have gotten lazy the past few years and usually buy them now.

[Natalka]

SnowFlakey, in the summer, I make them with cherries or saskatoon berries, and love them with sour cream and sugar. A dessert for a meal!