Our Adventure in Europe

I know, I know, who would have thought I would need to travel all the way to Amsterdam to finally learn how to make pierogies from scratch!??! For those non-Polish people out there, pierogies are dough filled with potatoes, cheese, and onions (really any variety of fillings you could think of, but potato and cheese are the staples) that are served up best when lightly boiled and then sautéed in butter and onions with a little salt, pepper and paprika sprinkled on top. That is my preferred way to eat them at least.

Now I have eaten pierogies since I can remember. My Grandma Sue, Dad’s mother, used to make them for holidays. When she stopped making them, we could rely on the stada babas at St. Josephette’s in Cleveland to have delicious batches of homemade pierogies on hand. We just had to be sure to head into town on a Thursday or Friday afternoon. Or beg locals to bring us shipments when they came to Columbus (thanks Chip and Tricia). Of course there was always Mrs. T’s in the frozen food isle at the grocery store.

This pierogi making lesson came about during the Volgermeer bike excursion. On that long trip home, I got to talking with a new girl in class, Marta. She is here in Amsterdam on an exchange program for 4 months. When I learned she was from Poland my next question was about pierogies. I have been trying to find them in this city to no avail. Well, I got one better, lovely Marta said she would teach me how to make them. She was going home to Poland in a week and would bring back the essential Polish white cheese.

So, now I have learned how to make pierogies from full-blooded Polish girls! That is right, Staci took Pierogi Making 101 with experts straight from the homeland. My fabulous teachers were Marta and Anna, along with a friend of theirs Jolanta who stopped by to eat the rewards but also joined in the task. Earlier that week when I received an email from Marta telling me to be prepared to work, as I would be doing it all and they would supervise, I was both nervous and excited. Fortunately, the girls were patient and fun teachers who did help out but made sure I learned each step. And they were resourceful. When the rolling pin was nowhere to be found, a SPA water bottle was substituted. Click on the picture to check out the photo gallery.

So, last Friday was P-day (Pierogi Day). I earned my Polish merit badge by learning to make pierogies from 3 proper Polish girls. Now it was so entertaining to hear Marta, Anna and Jolanta talk about how their grandmothers and mothers each had their own way of preparing pierogies. And we quickly learned the meaning of too many cooks in the kitchen, as they each had their opinion of what should be stuffed inside, how the pierogi dough should be rolled and then sealed.

Sealing the filling in the dough is a key element of this process. If the seal isn’t tight the filling will leak out when you boil the pierogies. So here is a quick summary of techniques for sealing pierogies: 1st is the easy fork press option for beginners (which I will have you know I DID NOT resort to), 2nd is when you repeatedly roll over the dough in a series of ribbons, and the 3rd technique is pinching sections of dough between your fingers to make ridges (this was the winner of the night).

Now, I’ve been told some of the grandmothers individually roll out the dough in small pieces (that amazingly are the same size every time) and fill from there. Other grandmothers roll the dough in a big section and use a glass to cut the dough. We eventually switched to this time saving option.

Once all the pierogies were assembled we began dropping groups in boiling water till they floated. We added butter and onions and consumed, consumed and consumed some more. Ah, the fruits (potatoes) of our labor were glorious.

I suspect it would take several attempts to get your best technique and filling perfected. For my first attempt, I would say they were delicious! Hopefully, I can replicate this when I come home over the holidays!