What is the history of pierogies?

Question

I know that they are a Russian dish, but how did they come into being? Also, why is the potato a staple of Russian diets?

Answer 1

Pierogi are a kind of dumpling also known as perogi, perogy, piroghi, pirogi, or pyrohy. Most English-speakers treat these forms as singular and form the plural by adding -s, but a few consider them plural and form the singular by removal of the -i or -y. In Swedish however, the singular form is pirog and the plural form is created by adding -er at the end. Pierogi is the plural form of the Polish pieróg. The word itself comes from the Old Slavic "pir" (festivity).

Pierogi are of virtually untraceable Central or Eastern European origin; claims have been staked by the Poles, Romanians, Russians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Slovaks and Rusyns. Similarity to dumplings found in the Far East such as Chinese potstickers fuels speculation, well-founded or not, that the Mongols and Tatars brought the recipe to the West.

Pierogi are semi-circular dumplings of unleavened dough, stuffed with sauerkraut, twaróg, mashed potatoes, cabbage, onion, meat, hard-boiled eggs (the last is rather Mennonite-specific), or any combination thereof, or with a fruit filling.

They are typically fried, deep-fried or boiled until they float, and then covered with butter or oil; alternatives include the Mennonite tradition of baking and serving with borscht, and the Polish way of boiling, then frying in butter. They are typically served with plenty of sour cream, and the savoury ones are topped with fried bacon or onions. The most popular of the Polish variety are savoury pierogi ruskie, stuffed with farmer's (aka dry cottage) cheese, mashed potatoes, and onion. Varenyky or vareniki (from varyt', "to boil") are the Russian or Ukrainian version of pierogi. One variation of the pierogi are the meat-filled, boiled dumplings called pelmeni (пельмени), originating in Siberia, are very popular throughout Russia and in other parts of the former Soviet Union.
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The importance of potatoes in Russian cuisine:

Frederick the Great of Prussia saw the potato's potential to help feed his nation and lower the price of bread, but faced the challenge of overcoming the people's prejudice against the plant. When he issued a 1774 order for his subjects to grow potatoes as protection against famine, the town of Kolberg replied: "The things have neither smell nor taste, not even the dogs will eat them, so what use are they to us?" Trying a less direct approach to encourage his subjects to begin planting potatoes, Frederick used a bit of reverse psychology: he planted a royal field of potato plants and stationed a heavy guard to protect this field from thieves. Nearby peasants naturally assumed that anything worth guarding was worth stealing, and so snuck into the field and snatched the plants for their home gardens. Of course, this was entirely in line with Frederick's wishes.

In the Russian Empire, Catherine the Great ordered her subjects to begin cultivating the tuber, but many ignored this order. They were supported in this dissension by the Orthodox Church, which argued that potatoes were suspect because they were not mentioned in the Bible. Potatoes were not widely cultivated in Russia until 1850, when Czar Nicholas I began to enforce Catherine's order.

Answer 2

Russian Pierogi

Answer 3

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RE:
What is the history of pierogies?
I know that they are a Russian dish, but how did they come into being? Also, why is the potato a staple of Russian diets?

Answer 4

As Russia expanded eastward, it incorporated many of the Asian food cuisines into its diet, specifically the meat dumplings. The dumplings made their way over to Ukraine and Poland. However, both Ukraine who call their pierogies varanyky and the Poles, began stuffing the dough with potatoes instead of meat, and thus the pierogi was born.

Answer 5

The plural is pierogi, not pierogies.

Answer 6

Perogies Origin

Answer 7

Fruits are identified as ripened flower ovaries which produce seeds.

Answer 8

like both, fruits: berries, oranges, pears, peaches, dragonfruit, pomegranate.... Vegetables: CUCUMBERS, bok choy, green beans, broccoli,.... My spouse and i guess the two are great.

Answer 9

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The most highly prized mushroom in Ukraine is commonly called the honey mushroom in English (Armillaria mellea), or "openky" or "pidpenky" (meaning "under the stump") in Ukrainian. The cepe or porcini mushroom is also highly prized (genus Boletus). Ukrainians, like many Eastern Europeans, pride themselves on their mushroom-foraging skills, which are passed on from generation to generation, and mushroom hunting is a popular pastime in Ukraine. Mushroom sauces are very popular as toppings on many dishes, like roast meats and poultry, potatoes, as well as noodles and dumplings such as varenyky (a.k.a. pyrohy or "pierogies"). Beets are very popular all across Ukraine, whether served as a simple side dish, added to salads, or mixed with grated horseradish and used as a condiment (very popular with roasted meat, poultry, hard-boiled eggs or fish), but most importantly in the internationally famous beet soup called borshch, of which there are as many different recipes as there are Ukrainian cooks. Even the Russians are quick to agree that their favorite version of borshch is "Ukrainian style". Cabbage (kapusta) is another staple food used all across Ukraine, and used to make salads (similar to cole-slaw), boiled as a simple side-dish, but more commonly used to make sauerkraut, soup, and cabbage rolls stuffed with ground meat and rice or barley (holubtsi). Cucumbers are extremely popular in Ukraine, and often served simply sliced and lightly salted, or mixed with a little sour cream, vinegar and sliced onion as a popular salad. It is also julienned and served in the summer in a light beet-based cold broth. Many Ukrainians make their own homemade pickled cucumbers, which are enjoyed year-round. Ukraine is widely known as the bread-basket of Europe, because of its huge fields of grains, the produce of which are now exported world-wide, not just to the rest of Europe (the flag of modern Ukraine is actually a graphic portrayal of one of these vast fields of grain, ripe golden-yellow and ready to harvest, under a bright clear blue autumn sky). Ukrainians are rightly proud of their wide-variety of different bread products, and no special occasion or holiday would be complete without a specially made and decorated loaf of bread, such as the brioche-like babka (paska) for Easter, or the traditional Ukrainian wedding-bread (korovay), a large round loaf baked with various symbolic decorations made of dough on top. Wheat noodles are very popular, as are the traditional filled dumplings called vareniki. Bread rolls baked with a variety of savory fillings (pyrizhky) are a very popular snack or small meal, eaten about as often as a typical American might eat a hot dog or hamburger. Whole wheat grains are boiled with dried fruits and poppy seeds for the traditional and highly symbolic Christmas dessert called kutya. Fish is widely popular all over Ukraine, but mostly in its preserved forms, either pickled or smoked. Smoked native salmon is very popular, as is smoked river trout. Pickled herring is insanely popular, usually pickled in a simple vinegar based pickling brine, but pickled herring packed in oil is also very popular, as is pickled herring in sour cream. Ukraine is very rich in dairy cows, and the milk is mostly used to make a fresh unfermented cheese called "tvarih", which is referred to as "farmers cheese" in the US, and is similar to dry-curd cottage cheese, but with a finer-textured curd (it is somehwat similar in texture to Italian ricotta cheese). The fresh cream is a delicacy usually reserved for very special occasions, while the rest of the cream is used to make sour cream, which is used in Ukraine in many different recipes, as well as a condiment served with nearly every savory or sweet dish. Locally raised beef, chicken and lamb are all widely consumed, but the favorite meat of most Ukrainians has to be pork. It is used to make most of the sausages (kovbasa) in Ukraine, which are almost always smoked as a way to preserve the meat for year-round enjoyment. Poppies are widely grown throughout Ukraine. The red poppy flower is often considered Ukraine's unofficial national flower. Besides being enjoyed for the beauty of the flowers, poppy seeds are also very popular as a flavoring in food, most commonly as a toppin for breads and rolls, as well as mixed with sugar syrup to use as a filling for a wide variety of baked desserts. Potatoes are not native to Europe at all, but to South America, but since their introduction in the 1500's they have quickly become a staple of Ukrainian cuisine, most often served simply boiled and tossed with melted butter and some dill or parsley, or sliced and fried with onion, but also mashed and used as the most popular filling for the filled dumplings vareniki. Dill is one of the most typical herbs and seasonings in Ukraine. No soup, salad, pickle or other savory recipe would be considered complete or typically Ukrainian without at least some dill in it,