Vareniki - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Varenyky are a kind of stuffed dumpling

Dumpling

Dumplings are cooked balls of dough. They are based on flour, potatoes or bread, and may include meat, fish, vegetables, or sweets. They may be cooked by boiling, steaming, simmering, frying, or baking. They may have a filling, or there may be other ingredients mixed into the dough. Dumplings may...

associated with Ukrainian cuisine

Ukrainian cuisine

Ukrainian cuisine has significant diversity, historical traditions. "Cuisine - Flavors and Colors of Ukrainian Culture."] . Accessed July 2011. Common foods used include meats, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, berries and herbs...

. Variants are also found in Moldovan, Mennonite

Mennonite

The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...

, Belarusian

Belarusian cuisine

Belarusian cuisine shares the same roots with cuisines of other Eastern and Northern European countries, basing predominantly on meat and various vegetables typical for the region.-History:...

, Russian

Russian cuisine

Russian cuisine is diverse, as Russia is the largest country in the world. Russian cuisine derives its varied character from the vast and multi-cultural expanse of Russia. Its foundations were laid by the peasant food of the rural population in an often harsh climate, with a combination of...

, Lithuanian

Lithuanian cuisine

Lithuanian cuisine features the products suited to the cool and moist northern climate of Lithuania: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, berries, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialities...

, and Polish

Polish cuisine

Polish cuisine is a style of cooking and food preparation originating from Poland. It has evolved over the centuries due to historical circumstances. Polish national cuisine shares some similarities with other Central European and Eastern European traditions as well as French and Italian...

cooking. They are believed to originate from Chinese and Siberian influences, although sometimes they are said to be of Turkish

Turkish cuisine

Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including that of western Europe...

origin. Varenyky are similar to Polish pierogi

Pierogi

Pierogi are dumplings of unleavened dough - first boiled, then they are baked or fried usually in butter with onions - traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit...

Description

Varenyky are square

Square (geometry)

In geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral. This means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles...

- or crescent

Crescent

In art and symbolism, a crescent is generally the shape produced when a circular disk has a segment of another circle removed from its edge, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs of different diameters which intersect at two points .In astronomy, a crescent...

-shaped dumplings of unleavened dough

Dough

Dough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , flatbreads, noodles, pastry, and similar items)...

, stuffed with sauerkraut

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut , directly translated from German: "sour cabbage", is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid...

, cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

, mashed potatoes

Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...

, cabbage

Cabbage

Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...

, meat

Meat

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...

, hard-boiled eggs

Egg (food)

Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...

(a Mennonite

Mennonite

tradition) or a combination of these, or with a fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

filling. Varenyky are very popular in Ukraine.

During preparation, the filling is wrapped with dough

Dough

, boiled

Boiling

Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point, the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding environmental pressure. While below the boiling point a liquid...

for several minutes, and then covered with butter or cooking oil

Cooking oil

Cooking oil is purified fat of plant origin, which is usually liquid at room temperature ....

. The name varenyk, in fact, simply means "boiled thing," from the adjective varenyy. In certain regions of Ukraine they do not boil varenyky, but cook them with the help of steam so that they become big and juicy. Varenyky are typically topped with fried salo

Salo (food)

Salo is a traditional Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian food: cured slabs of fatback , with or without skin. As a trend, the Eastern European one is salted or brine fermented, hence the names slonina/slana/szalonna...

bits (shkvarky) and onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

s and accompanied with sour cream

Sour cream

Sour cream is a dairy product rich in fats obtained by fermenting a regular cream by certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturally, sours and thickens the cream. Its name stems from the production of lactic acid by bacterial...

(smetana). Left-over varenyky may be fried

Frying

Frying is the cooking of food in oil or another fat, a technique that originated in ancient Egypt around 2500 BC. Chemically, oils and fats are the same, differing only in melting point, but the distinction is only made when needed. In commerce, many fats are called oils by custom, e.g...

. Sweet, fruit-filled varenyky are served with sour cream and sugar. Raw varenyky (with the dough uncooked) can be stored frozen, then cooked in three minutes, which makes them a convenience food

Convenience food

Convenience food, or tertiary processed food, is commercially prepared food designed for ease of consumption. Products designated as convenience foods are often prepared food stuffs that can be sold as hot, ready-to-eat dishes; as room-temperature, shelf-stable products; or as refrigerated or...

.
Other preparation methods include the Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n tradition of glazing with egg white

Egg white

Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms around either fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks...

, baking

Baking

Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...

, and serving with soup

Soup

Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...

; the Mennonite

Mennonite

tradition of baking and serving with borscht

Borscht

Borscht is a soup of Ukrainian origin that is popular in many Eastern and Central European countries. In most of these countries, it is made with beetroot as the main ingredient, giving it a deep reddish-purple color...

; and the Polish tradition of boiling, then frying in butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

with onions.

Varieties of varenyky

Varenyky come with a wide variety of either savory or sweet fillings. Here is a list of varenyky served in a restaurant specializing in national Ukrainian dishes:

Savory:

Potatoes
Mushrooms
Potatoes and mushrooms
Cabbage (pre-roasted sour cabbage)
Cabbage and mushrooms
Cottage Cheese (Canadian Mennonite and Canadian Ukrainian variations)
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut , directly translated from German: "sour cabbage", is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid...

(sautéed)
Salty white cheese
Fish (salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

and pike-perch)
Meat (pork and beef mixture)
Meat and cabbage
Liver (beef)
Liver and potatoes
Offal
Offal
Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...

(mixture of beef lung, heart, liver, "Old Ukrainian style")

Savory varieties are usually topped with melted butter, sour cream, fried salo
Salo (food)
Salo is a traditional Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian food: cured slabs of fatback , with or without skin. As a trend, the Eastern European one is salted or brine fermented, hence the names slonina/slana/szalonna...

, and fried onions.
In the case of the Canadian Mennonite cottage cheese variation, these varenyky are usually topped with a savory cream sauce called schmauntfat.

Sweet:

Fresh white cheese (domashniy syr ("домашний сыр"), tvorog ("творог"))
Cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
Bilberry
Bilberry
Bilberry is any of several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium , bearing edible berries. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., but there are several other closely related species....

, or blueberry
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...

in North America
Raspberry
Raspberry
The raspberry or hindberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves...
Strawberry
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...

Sweet varieties are usually topped with melted butter, sour cream, and sometimes raspberry jam. Ukrainian cherry varenyky often topped with honey

There are also alternative ways to make varenyky and even in some cases they are filled with kiwi or mango

Lazy varenyky

Lazy varenyky in Russian and Ukrainian cuisine are gnocchi

Gnocchi

Gnocchi are various thick, soft dumplings. They may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, flour and egg, flour, egg, and cheese, potato, bread crumbs, or similar ingredients. The smaller forms are called gnocchetti....

-shaped dumplings made by mixing farmer cheese

Farmer cheese

Farmer cheese refers to most often an unripened cheese made by adding bacterial starter and rennet to acidify milk. Farmer cheese may be made from the milk of cows, sheep or goats, with each giving its own texture and flavor.During coagulation the mixture separates into curds and whey , then the...

with egg and flour into quick dough. The cheese-based dough is formed into a long sausage about 2 cm thick, which is cut diagonally into gnocchi, called galushki in Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

, halushky in Ukrainian

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....

or kopytka

Kopytka

Kopytka, kapytki are a kind of potato dumpling. They are very similar to gnocchi although they are typically served baked with cheese, fried bacon or onion...

in Polish

Polish language

Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

. The dumplings are then quickly boiled in salted water and served with sour cream or melted butter. The name "lazy varenyky" faithfully reflects the very quick preparation time of the dish: it usually takes ten to fifteen minutes from assembling the simple ingredients to serving the cooked dumplings. Lazy varenyky differ from standard varenyky in the same way that Italian gnocchi

Gnocchi

differ from ravioli

Ravioli

Ravioli are a traditional type of Italian filled pasta. They are composed of a filling sealed between two layers of thin egg pasta dough and are served either in broth or with a pasta sauce. The word ravioli is reminiscent of the Italian verb riavvolgere , though the two words are not...

or tortellini

Tortellini

Tortellini are ring-shaped pasta. They are typically stuffed with a mix of meat or cheese. Originally from the Italian region of Emilia , they are usually served in broth, meat broth, either of beef, chicken, or both...

: these are fluffy solid dumplings, not stuffed pockets of dough. A similar dish in Polish cuisine

Polish cuisine

is called lazy pierogi ( or kopytka

Kopytka

Kopytka, kapytki are a kind of potato dumpling. They are very similar to gnocchi although they are typically served baked with cheese, fried bacon or onion...

Monumental varenyky

A monument to varenyky was inaugurated in Cherkasy

Cherkasy

Cherkasy or Cherkassy , is a city in central Ukraine. It is the capital of the Cherkasy Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Cherkasky Raion within the oblast...

, Ukraine in September 2006. The monument erected at the entrance to a hotel shows Cossack Mamay

Cossack Mamay

Cossack Mamay is a Ukrainian folkloric hero, one of standard characters in traditional Ukrainian itinerant puppet theater, the Vertep. Mamay eventually became the national personification of Ukraine and Ukrainians.-Review:...

(a Ukrainian folklore hero whose fondness for varenyky was narrated by both Taras Shevchenko

Taras Shevchenko

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...

and Nikolay Gogol) eating varenyky from an earthenware pot, with a huge crescent-shaped varenyk behind him.

A monument to halushky was inaugurated in Poltava

Poltava

Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....

, Ukraine in 2006.
In 1991, a roadside monument with a giant pierogi

Pierogi

(a variant of varenyky) was erected in the village of Glendon

Glendon, Alberta

Glendon is a village in northern Alberta north of St. Paul.In 1993, the town unveiled its roadside tribute to the perogy. Their "Giant Perogy," complete with fork, is 25 feet tall. It is one of the Giants of the Prairies. Next to the roadside attraction is the Perogy Cafe, which serves...

in Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

In January 2010, a pierogi statue was proposed to be erected in Minneapolis, MN.

External links

- Varenyky recipes various languages
- European Recipes - Ukrainian Varenyky
- Vareniki, an indisputable delight Irakli Iosebashvili, April, 29 2009, Russia Beyond the Headlines
Russia Beyond the Headlines
Russia Beyond the Headlines is a branch of Russian state-owned newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta which publishes a number of foreign-language newspaper supplements and maintains the RBTH news website. The supplements are included in international newspapers in an effort to cultivate a positive view of...

, article with recipe

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Description

Varieties of varenyky

Lazy varenyky

Monumental varenyky

See also

External links