I used to make these often for potluck parties that I hosted myself - in Pittsburgh, where pierogi are so famous the baseball team has pierogi mascots race each other. [1] They’re a real crowd pleaser, the only hard part is that rolling and folding the dough thin enough requires the finger dexterity of an old babcia. (Polish grandma.) So, unfortunately my pierogi often ended up being 2-3x thicker than the authentic o…
Pierogi's rolling does not need to be thin, it's actually slightly ticker than Chinese ones.
My wife's mother makes excellent pierogi. The potato ones are nice but the sauerkraut and mushroom are my favourite. A nice dollop of Heinz ketchup on the side. Delicious.
Ok, I need to double check, but I'm pretty sure using ketchup anywhere near pierogi is illegal.
My mother in law is 2nd gen British, her parents came from Poland in the 1930s, so they are nearly 100 years out of Poland. It might be something to do with that.
My wife's mother makes excellent pierogi. The potato ones are nice but the sauerkraut and mushroom are my favourite. A nice dollop of Heinz ketchup on the side. Delicious.
Ok, I need to double check, but I'm pretty sure using ketchup anywhere near pierogi is illegal.
Heinz ketchup and pierogi in Pittsburgh: unstoppable force meets immovable object.
I can report that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine the Pierogi ruskie is now Pierogi ukraiński. Or at least they are in my Wife's hometown of Ustka on the North coast. According to the article this is a more accurate description anyway.
+1 from me, as article mention one of the small annoyances I have. My family comes from Red Ruthenia, region where ruskie pierogi comes from. Because of lingual characteristic they are usually linked to Russia (as mentioned in article) and so, with all the turmoil many restaurants decided to rename them: either to pierogi with potatoes and cheese or to galicean - as from Galicia, which is commonly perceived as Krakow…
Writing from the Ukrainian side of Galicia here, I would point out that Krakow is far from being the center of the region. Przemyśl or Zamosc lie much closer to the center if you include our side of Galicia where pierogis are widely popular as well.
Matter of fact my family and many others here cook and eat them every week on Sunday, which I now hold as a near and dear tradition. There is something special about rolling and folding the dough together, boiling the pierogis, cooking the mushroom/onion sauce.
Since this is a food cherished by both Poles and Ukrainians I find the name "galicean" a great fit as well, since it's a region shared between the two countries.
My wife's mother makes excellent pierogi. The potato ones are nice but the sauerkraut and mushroom are my favourite. A nice dollop of Heinz ketchup on the side. Delicious.
Ok, I need to double check, but I'm pretty sure using ketchup anywhere near pierogi is illegal.
The rule for pierogi is simple, and like the rule for coffee and whiskey. The best pierogi is the pierogi you eat and enjoy.
I have been in Poland for much of the time since the war started, and while I have read news articles about this supposed new term pierogie ukraińskie , I don’t think I have ever seen it in the real world. The pierogis served at milk bars, or from Żabka to be microwaved, are still overwhelmingly referred to as ruskie . Even the Ukrainian cafe nearby serves them as pierogie ruskie .
In Ukraine they're called Varenyky (originating from a verb "boil", like "boiled things").
Never heard about them from outside of Poland, but heard about pierogi a lot, even Men in Black had them (what else would an alien eat, right?).
I agree that krówki are rather little known outside Poland and the GP’s post was daft. But I was amused to find krówki from Poland sold in several towns in Chilean Patagonia, which I guess is a testament to modern shipping-container based trade.
Not true, they’re popular all over Eastern Europe. So much so that the Krowka brand is available at nearly every Russian/Armanian/etc store in the US. It’s a staple in the candy isle along with mishka, belochka, and Alenka.
Those stores probably outnumber the restaurants serving pierogi significantly.
+1 from me, as article mention one of the small annoyances I have. My family comes from Red Ruthenia, region where ruskie pierogi comes from. Because of lingual characteristic they are usually linked to Russia (as mentioned in article) and so, with all the turmoil many restaurants decided to rename them: either to pierogi with potatoes and cheese or to galicean - as from Galicia, which is commonly perceived as Krakow…
> My family comes from Red Ruthenia, region where ruskie pierogi comes from
Is there any definitive proof behind that? My family too come from former Polish territories in Ukraine.
It feels like in the last decade all of Slavs have been rushing into claiming as their own many traditions. I find it sad and unnecessary.
In fact I suspect the dish to be popular to move of the former Kievan Rus' region and I know for sure potato and cheese vareniki to be very popular in Belarus and western Russia.