Pierogi

Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water. Pierogi or their varieties are associated with the cuisines of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Dumplings most likely originated in Asia and came to Europe via trade in the Middle Ages. The widely-used English name pierogi was derived from Polish. In Ukraine and parts of Canada they are known as varenyky, or, in some dialects, pyrohy. Pierogi are also popular in modern-day American cuisine where they are sometimes known under different local names. Typical fillings include potato, cheese, quark, sauerkraut, ground meat, edible mushrooms, and/or fruits. Savory pierogi are often served with a topping of sour cream, fried onions, or both. The English word "pierogi" comes from Polish pierogi pjɛˈrɔgji, which is the plural form of pieróg ˈpjɛruk, a generic term for filled dumplings. It derives from Old East Slavic пиръ (pirŭ) and further from Proto-Slavic *pirъ, "feast". While dumplings as such are found throughout Eurasia, the specific name pierogi, with its Proto-Slavic root and its cognates in the West and East Slavic languages, including Russian пирог (pirog, "pie") and пирожки (pirozhki, "small pies"), shows the name's common Slavic origins, antedating the modern nation states and their standardized languages. In most of these languages the word means "pie". However, a recent theory speculates that the words bierock, pierogi or pirog may be derived from Turkic bureg. Among Ukrainians and the Ukrainian diaspora, they are known as varenyky (вареники). The word is the plural form of вареник (varenyk), which derives from Ukrainian вар (var) "boiling liquid", indicating boiling as the primary cooking method for this kind of dumpling. The same term is used in the Mennonite community, sometimes spelled varenikie or wareniki; and vareniki among Canadian Doukhobors Bryndzové pirohy is the Slovak term for dumplings filled with sheep milk cheese. Colțunași is the Romanian term for filled dumplings.