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While many Polish dishes have become internationally renowned for their iconic flavor and appearance, perhaps no polish dish has become as well known as the traditional Polish Pierogi.
These dumplings made with dough and folded into half-circle shaped wedges, can be seen stuffed with a wide range of fillings including mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, cabbage, farmer’s cheese, meat, mushrooms, or spinach. Dessert variations of Pierogis may find themselves filled with any number of fresh fruit fillings including prunes, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, apples, or jam.
Despite its widespread popularity in the 21st century, the origin setting and time period of the dish is largely disputed, and to this day unknown and unverifiable. One popular theory on the origin of the dish is that it arrived in Italy after one of Marco Polo’s expeditions to China. In turn, the theory suggests that Pierogis were established in the 13th century as a European hybrid of the also well-known Chinese dumpling.
Even more popular theories as to the origin of the dish however, are based on stories surrounding Saint Hyacinth of Poland, a Polish priest and missionary. It is said Saint Hyacinth visited the southern Polish village of Kościelec on July 13, 1238. During his stay, a hailstorm swept through the village and destroyed the entire season’s crops, threatening the entire village with the prospect of extreme famine and poverty. Saint Hyacinth asked the villagers to pray and by the next day, the crops had been restored to their original form. As a token of gratitude, the village people offered Hyacinth a Pierogi filled with the crops that he had helped restore. To this day, Święty Jacku z pierogami!(Saint Hyacinth and his Pierogi!) remains an old time saying exclaimed by the polish people in times of hopeless circumstances, similar to the English saying good grief!
Other legends involving Saint Hyacinth discuss stories of him feeding Polish villagers with Pierogis due to famine caused by an invasion of the Mongols in 1241. Still, other theories suggest Pierogis were imported from ancient Ukraine around the 13th century. With little documentation to support any of these claims, no one can be sure of the true origin. Experts suggest that the iconic dish probably originated somewhere in Central or Eastern Europe, and was most likely consumed long before any present-day nations known to the modern world existed- hence the dispute as to the true origin.
One of the first documentations of the Pierogi was found in a Polish cookbook written in 1682 by the renowned cook Stanisław Czerniecki, whose original recipe called for chopped kidneys, veal fat, greens, and nutmeg- a bit different than we might see today! With this dish’s roots thought to be in rural era Poland, the food was traditionally considered to be ‘peasant food,’ however in time, Pierogis were seen to be enjoyed by individuals of all socioeconomic classes, including nobility.
Many Polish cookbooks dating back to the 17th century described the Pierogi as quite essential to the diet of the Polish people, even indicating different types of the dish for different types of holidays and celebrations. For holidays such as Christmas and Easter, different shapes and fillings would be used to honor the special days. For celebrations such as weddings, special Pierogis were made containing chicken, however the dish was also seen as a staple for times of mourning, funerals, or wakes.
Pierogis’ spread to the international stage can largely be attributable to the influx of immigration of the Polish population to various countries around the world. Polish immigrants mainly began their relocation to the US in the 1900s, with the largest wave of immigrants arriving on the scene around the time of World War II and the great depression. The dish was originally enjoyed by Polish families within the context of immigrant family meals and ethnic restaurants, however Pierogis gained more attention in the early 1900s.
The original purpose of the Pierogi several centuries before its entry into American cuisine was to feed large numbers of people in an economical way, and within the context of the American depression it served a similar purpose. The first documented sale of Pierogi in the US was in May of 1928, when an individual by the name of Andrew Marton served Pierogis to unemployed steel mill workers in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Popularity was further driven in the coming years as a result of charitable work in a dark point in American economic history: the dish became a staple of fundraisers by Polish churches in the post-WWII era.
From there, starting in the 1960s, frozen Pierogis were seen as a staple item in the aisles of supermarkets throughout the US and Canada. Through their mass production and ‘Americanizaiton,’ Pierogis began to deviate from their original form, and acquired slightly altered forms from the ways by which they were originally prepared by the Polish people. They can now be found with an even larger variety of fillings including Jalapenos and Cheddar Cheese. Pierogis in the US today can be found at a variety of festivals and sporting events, as well as on menus at restaurants across the country.
North Americans were not the only culture to adopt the irresistible flavor and shape of the Pierogi however. The dish can be seen reflected in the creation of dishes such as Spanish empanadas, Italian ravioli, Japanese gyoza, as well as dumpling-like food from all around the globe.
Today, individuals with Polish heritage are found to still savor the flavor of the timeless recipes of their ancestors. Following traditional practice, it’s not uncommon to find Polish families enjoying Pierogis on holidays such as Christmas: tradition calls for the preparation of Pierogis filled with Sauerkraut, Mushrooms, or Farmer’s cheese on Christmas Eve (a date that is traditionally lead up to with a time of fasting to honor the religious holiday).
While the Pierogi we know and love today may be a bit different in flavor and form than the ways in which it was traditionally prepared, there is no denying that the reinvention of the dish still holds true to its original purpose- bringing together people of all walks of life to enjoy company, companionship, and delicious food.
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