My mother’s family, which is of Ukrainian decent, has always celebrated the pierogi. However you want to spell it or more importantly -- pronounce it, they are a delicious tradition in my family.
Pierogies are dough pockets filled with potato and sometimes also cheese and onion. Traditionally in the Ukrainian and Polish recipes, they are also very popular filled with cabbage/sourkraut, which we call kapusta instead of pierogi. Kapusta in the Polish, Ukrainian and Russian languages, simply means cabbage.
Fortunately for the American pierogi lovers, the United States has the most developed pierogi market. This is because we have the largest Eastern European immigrant population in North America (Canada being second). Unlike other countries with newer populations of Eastern European immigrants, the modern pierogi is easily found throughout our grocery stores here in the U.S.
As a kid growing up in the Lehigh Valley, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by endless opportunities to enjoy pierogies, and I absolutely loved them! From the homemade pierogies that family member would make themselves or ones that we would order months in advance and pick up at our church picnic each August, to the fried Mrs. T’s which were available at every concession stand at the local summer league baseball games, I have always enjoyed them sautéed with fried onions and topped with sour cream. During Christmas dinner in 2008, we enjoyed the home made dish made by my mom, an aunt and 2 of our cousins.
I have never had the opportunity to make the home made dish with my family, but after listening to stories over Christmas dinner in '08, I now know it takes a lot of time and it's A LOT of work. It goes faster when you have more people helping, but that may wear on your patience and could get pretty tricky...but, it's still well worth the wait.
At first, pierogies in America were a family food enjoyed mostly among immigrants new to the states until the post World War II era, when freshly cooked pierogies became a staple of fundraisers by the ethnic churches. These days, my parents have a valued connection and they are able to place orders each month from a Ukranian Orthodox Church in Northampton, PA. When I am home to visit, I often see a note on the fridge serving as a reminder.
"Pierogi order - Feb 2nd - 6 doz."
Recently, I was at the funeral of my great aunt Mary Bruchok, who helped make the pierogies in the church basement of the St Mary's Ukrainian Orthodox Church that my great grandfather, Nicholas, helped build by hand in Allentown. She was extremely well liked among the ladies, and still spoke the language fluently until a few years prior to her death. When my dad introduced me to some of the women who were there (that happened to be the some of the women who we order our pierogies from) I immediately mentioned my love of their work. We talked about their favorite ways of preparing the meal, how my parents order them for me to take back to the 'big city' of Philadelphia, we joked about my aunt Mary's great sense of humor...during this conversation, we even uncovered that one of the head ladies in the church basement pierogy business in Northampton, actually shared the exact same name as my great grandmother, Katherine Kochenah. I thought to myself -- there was no way that I was leaving without the recipe.
Well, the recipe is a secret. No matter how charming you are…
So here is what I do to enjoy Ukrainian pierogies by way of Katherine Kochenash in Northampton.
1. First I start to sauté the onion in butter and a drizzle of Wegman's basting oil until brown.
(I also had fresh green onions on hand so I chopped up two of those and added to the white onion. The Wegman's basting oil a mixture of olive oil, dried thyme, parsley and a touch of garlic.)
2. Instead of sautéing the actual pierogies in the butter and onion, like my mom does, I do it in a way that is a little easier on the calories and I bake the them with a little salt and pepper on a baking sheet (lined with aluminum foil that I spray with cooking spray) at 350 for about 20 minutes on each side or until golden brown on the bottom. I turn them once so they are crispy on both sides.
When they are finished, I top each one with onion and serve them hot on a platter with sour cream (and green onion).
Such a simple dish to make! You can find fresh pierogies at church picnics, farmers markets, and of course The Pierogie Kitchen in Roxborough, Pa. When I get them from my Mom, they are alwasy frozen.
