Almost everyone of central or eastern European heritage is familiar with pierogi. From Minnesota to Massachusetts, the filled dumplings are standard fare at church socials and American Legion halls. But, sadly, the making of pierogi is becoming a lost art.
One place it’s being kept alive in the East Valley, though, is Pittsburgh Willy’s, the gourmet hot dog shop in Chandler. It’s understandable: Perhaps no where in this country are pierogi more popular than Pittsburgh, where Pirates baseball games even feature a seventh-inning pierogi race.
“We wanted to do them since no one else was doing them,” says Pittsburgh native Randy Walters, who’s been offering pierogi since he opened his small, family-run restaurant in November 2008.
Every Wednesday, Pittsburgh Willy’s serves potato-and-cheese-filled pierogi slathered with butter and sauteed onions ($6.50 for half-dozen and a drink). The eatery often runs out by evening, but diners can call ahead and reserve an order or two for dinner.
There’s also a steady stream of customers picking up orders of frozen pierogi ($9.50 per dozen) every Wednesday. You have to order pierogi to go at least a week in advance, meaning if you want some for Christmas you need to order them by Thursday.
Last night, I stopped by Pittsburgh Willy’s after-hours to watch Walters and his extended family go through the weekly ritual of making several hundred pierogi by hand:
Randy’s wife, Cyndee, mixes the dough made of flour, eggs, salt and water. She uses a recipe passed down from her Russian aunt:
Although it’s an unleavened dough, she allows it to rest for 10 minutes until it’s the right texture:
When it’s ready, the dough is cut into pieces:
Each piece is fed through a hand-cranked roller to flatten it to a consistent thickness:
Then it goes through a second roller to press it even thinner:
Using a pastry bag, Randy squeezes a dollop of filling – made with boiled potatoes, two kinds of cheese and some family-secret seasonings – onto the dough:
Another piece of dough is placed on top and carefully pressed tight around the filling:
A circular pastry cutter is used to cut out each pierogi.
A fork is used to crimp the edges:
The finished pierogis are placed on trays and stored in the freezer until Wednesday, when they are cooked or picked up:
Although Pittsburgh Willy’s usually serves just potato-and-cheese pierogi, this year it’s also offering cabbage-and-onion pierogi for Christmas.
Again, you have to order those by Thursday (Dec. 15) to be picked up next week.
And remember the eatery only serves pierogi on Wednesdays.
(Oh, and what’s with the Steelers pierogi-dough snowman at the top of this page? Let’s just say things can get silly after a couple hours of making pierogi!)
Coming tomorrow: A look at the cooked product
