Pierogi vs. Pirozhki: What’s the Difference?

• Pierogi

  Pierogi ( pih-ROH-ghee) (singular pieróg), also known as varenyky, are filled dumplings of Central European origin made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water. These dumplings are popular in West Slavic (Polish, Slovak, and Czech), Hungarian, East Slavic (Belarusian and western Ukrainian), some Baltic (Latvian and Lithuanian) and other Central and Eastern European cuisines where they are known under their local names. However, pierogi are especially almost always associated with Poland and Slovakia, where they are considered national dishes.

  Typical fillings include potato, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, and fruits. The dumplings may be served with a topping, such as melted butter, sour cream, or fried onion, or a combination of those ingredients. Although the Polish word pierogi is plural, most English speakers use it as if it were singular and add s or es for plural. Varenyky is also plural in Ukrainian.

• Pirozhki

  Pirozhki (Russian: пирожки, plural form of pirozhok, literally a “small pie”), also transliterated as piroshki (singular piroshok) or pyrizhky (Ukrainian: пиріжки), is a term for individual-sized baked or fried buns stuffed with a variety of fillings with origins in Russia. The stress in pirozhki is properly placed on the last syllable: [pʲirɐʂˈkʲi]. Pirozhok ( пирожок , singular) is the diminutive form of the Russian pirog (пирог), which refers to a full-sized pie. (Unless the full-sized pie is called by the diminutive name for purely stylistic reasons.) Pirozhki are not to be confused with the pierogi of Poland and Slovakia (Central Europe), which are boiled dumplings similar to the Ukrainian and Russian varenyky.

  A common variety of pirozhki are baked stuffed buns made from yeast dough and often glazed with egg to produce the common golden colour. They commonly contain meat (typically beef) or a vegetable filling (mashed potatoes, mushrooms, onions and egg, or cabbage). Pirozhki could also be stuffed with fish (e.g., salmon) or with an oatmeal filling mixed with meat or giblets. Sweet-based fillings could include stewed or fresh fruit (apples, cherries, apricots, chopped lemon, etc.), jam, quark or cottage cheese. The buns may be plain and stuffed with the filling, or else be made in a free-form style with strips of dough decoratively encasing the filling.

  Variations on the use of yeast dough can be American style pie crust short dough or multilayered pastry dough similar to that found in croissants.

  Pirozhki can be of a reasonable size, slightly smaller than a hamburger, with several eaten as a meal unto themselves. Another version is smaller, about the size (width and length) of two fingers, and is usually served in pairs accompanying soup.

  Potatoes among American crops became very popular when the vegetable was brought and adopted to the Eurasian climate. Before then, the ingredient was not available as it took more time to acclimatize to continental regions like Russia and Ukraine. Before then, the ingredients would contain more vegetables and fruits, as well as duck, goose and rabbit meat, uncommon today.

• Pierogi (noun)

  A square- or crescent-shaped dumpling of unleavened dough, stuffed with sauerkraut, cheese, mashed potatoes, cabbage, onion, meat, or any combination of these, or with a fruit filling.

• Pirozhki (noun)

  Small pastries filled with finely chopped meat, vegetables or fruit baked or fried, from eastern European cuisine, or a serving of these.

• Pirozhki (noun)

  A single such pastry.

• Pirozhki (noun)

  plural of pirozhok

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