Pirozhki are Eastern European baked or fried yeast-leavened boat-shaped buns with a variety of fillings.
The word pirozhki is a diminutive of pirog, the Russian name for pie.
Terminology
The word
pirozhki comes from (), with the stress being on the last syllable: . (a=Ru-пирожок.ogg, singular) is the
diminutive form of Russian
pirog, which means a full-sized
pie.
The word is derived from
pirъ, meaning "feast" or "party".
Their names in other languages are pirazhki (, pirazhok)
Pirozhki are not to be confused with the Polish pierogi (a cognate term), which are called or pyrohy in Ukrainian and Doukhoborese, and vareniki in Russian.
Variations
A typical pirozhok is boat- or rarely crescent-shaped, made of yeast-leavened dough, with filling completely enclosed. Similar Eastern European and Russian pastries (
) of other shapes include
coulibiac,
Karelian pasty,
rasstegai, and
vatrushka. Pirozhki are usually hand-sized. A smaller version may be served with soups.
Pirozhki are either fried or baked. They come in sweet or savory varieties. Common savory fillings include ground meat, mashed potato, Edible mushroom, boiled egg with scallions, or cabbage. Typical sweet fillings are fruit (apple, cherry, apricot, lemon), jam, or tvorog.
According to Darra Goldstein, the pirog "is as ubiquitous in Russian life as it is in literature. Street corners are dotted with hawkers selling their pies hot from portable ovens; cafés offer meat pies along with bowls of soup... Their diminutive cousins, the pirozhki, are pocket-sized and oval. All can be made from a variety of doughs—yeast, short or flaky pastry—depending on which suits the filling best." An example she gives of its role in literature is Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol.
Regional varieties
Americas
Varieties of pirozhki were brought to the Americas by
Volga Germans. Known today as
bierock,
pirok or
runza, they belong to several regional cuisines in the United States,
Canada and
Argentina. The populous Russian diaspora which came to the Americas as a consequence of the Russian Revolution, the Russian Civil War, and (much later) the collapse of the Soviet Union, brought with them the more classic Russian versions of pirozhki.
Balkans
The
Greek cuisine variety ()
is popular in parts of Greece, in particular in
Northern Greece, as brought by
Pontic Greeks, and in most big cities, where they are sold, most in the past time but also less still today, as a type of fast food in specialty shops called Piroski shops, selling piroski exclusively.
The Greek come fried with many different stuffings,
such as Greek
feta cheese or Greek
kasseri cheese or minced meat or
mashed potato or mix of
feta cheese and
ham or other filling.
In Serbian cuisine the local variety are cylindrical pastries called пирошка/ (). They are stuffed with fillings such as ground spiced meat mix of pork and veal or cottage cheese, and with kulen, tomato sauce and herbs. Alternatively they are made from breaded crepes with variety of fillings.
In Croatia, the name piroška (sing.), piroške (pl.) was derived from pirog, and refers to a kind of uštipci.
Baltics
In Latvia, crescent-shaped buns of leavened dough called speķrauši (literally, "fatback tarts") or speķa pīrāgi (often referred to in diminutive speķa pīrādziņi or colloquially simply pīrāgi or pīrādziņi) are traditionally filled with smoked
fatback and onion. Other fillings are also possible.
However the name pīrāgi is not exclusive to these buns, but can refer to variety of other pastries, such as
and turnovers. Pīrāgi were often eaten as lunch by farmers and shepherds working the fields.
Estonians (and Finns) too have this tradition. The pirukad or saiakesed are fairly small in size and have regional variations in respect to fillings. They are usually made with puff pastry. Open pies covering the scale of whole baking tray are also popular, more similar to American pies. Many recipes exist, with meat, cabbage, , rice, egg and other fillings and filling mixtures also being used. Sweet fillings are as popular as savory pirukad with fillings like apple, various berries, marzipan, various spices and jam.
South Caucasus
The Russian variant of pirozhki is a common fast food in
Armenia and
Azerbaijan. In Armenia it often contains a potato or seasoned meat filling. In Azerbaijan it is usually made with jam, mashed potatoes, or ground beef.
Central Asia
Pirozhki are common as fast food on the streets of the Central Asian countries in
Kazakhstan,
Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan,
Kyrgyzstan, where they were introduced by the Russians. They are also made by many Russians and non-Russians at home.
Finland
The
Finnish cuisine version is the similar
lihapiirakka, a popular street food made with donut dough, minced meat and rice.
Iran
The
Iranian cuisine version, ( ), is often consumed as a appetizer or as a street food. It is commonly filled with pastry cream, but potato and meat fillings are also available.
Japan
The dish was introduced to Japan by White Russian refugees who sought shelter there after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. A localized Japanese version, called ピロシキ (), are predominantly fried, use fillings such as ground meat, boiled egg, bean noodles, and spring onion, and are commonly breaded with
panko before frying, in the manner of Japanese . Another popular variation is filled with
Japanese curry and is quite similar to
Curry bread, which is itself said to be inspired by pirozhki.
Mongolia
Pirozhki is common as fast food in Mongolia, and it is made throughout the country by families at home.
See also
Notes
Sources
-
Piroshki or Pirozhki in Larousse Gastronomique, The New American Edition (Jenifer Harvey Lang, ed.), Crown Publishers, New York (1988), p. 809.
-
Piroghi or Pirozhki in Larouse Gastronomique, first English language edition (Nina Froud and Charlotte Turgeon, eds.), Paul Hamlyn, London (1961), p. 740-741.
-
Pirog in The Oxford Companion to Food (Alan Davidson), Oxford University Press (1999), p.p. 609-610.
-
Speķa rauši in "Latviska un Moderna Virtuve" (The Latvian and Modern Kitchen), Fischbach D.P. Camp, Germany, 1949; pg. 24 , original in Latvian and translated into English
