Pierogi

Pierogi, one or more dumplings of Polish origin, made of unleavened dough filled with meat, vegetables, or fruit and boiled or fried or both. In Polish pierogi is the plural form of pieróg (“dumpling”), but in English the word pierogi is usually treated as either singular or plural.

In Polish tradition, the dumpling was introduced to the nation by the Dominican missionary St. Hyacinth, who died in Kraków in 1257. The Polish-born saint is said to have brought the dish with him from a missionary posting to Kyiv, which has afforded Ukrainians and Russians grounds to claim pierogi as their own. Ultimately, however, pierogi may have originated in Central Asia or the Middle East, perhaps traveling to Kyiv by way of the Silk Road in a time of constant overland contact between Europe and East Asia. This Asian origin is supported by the Turkish word for the dish, börek, although some linguists instead connect the word pierogi to an Old Church Slavonic term meaning “feast.” The word pierogi, along with recipes for it, first appeared in print in the late 17th century, but by then the food item had been known for centuries.

Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a filling and cooked in boiling water. They are occasionally flavoured with a savoury or sweet garnish. Typical fillings include potato, cheese, quark, sauerkraut, ground meat, mushrooms, fruits, and/or berries.