Martha Stewart's Favorite Comfort Food Is A Nod To Her Polish Roots
All too often, our favorite comfort foods remind us of home, from the chicken noodle soup dad made when we were sick to the made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls with a croissant-like texture mom would bake early Saturday mornings.
The origins of pierogi are a topic of much back and forth, with some historians attributing Marco Polo (who never actually visited) of bringing the dumpling to Poland from China. Polish lore claims pierogi were introduced to them by a Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth in the mid 13th century. But what we know for a fact is Poland's first cookbook, "Compendium Ferculorum, albo Zebranie potraw," which was published in 1682, included a recipe for pierogi stuffed with veal kidneys. Over the years, the recipe was adapted with expensive ingredients like fruit and sugar being prepared by the upper class, while commoners made pierogi with affordable substitutes such as whole grains or potatoes.
The best pierogi fillings
When Martha Stewart makes her favorite comfort food with her mother Martha Kostyra during a late '90s episode in the 5th season of "Martha Stewart Living," they go traditional with a filling of mashed potatoes and cheese, but the versatile pierogi can contain fillings that are both savory and sweet. Commonly-used fillings include everything from ground beef (pork or lamb) with onions, and sauerkraut and mushroom, to sweet cheese or strawberries.
The tender dough made from egg, sour cream, milk, water, and flour is the perfect vehicle for almost any filling you can imagine. Although there are similarities, there are differences between pierogi and ravioli, but a pierogi could easily be stuffed with sage butter and pumpkin, and fried instead of boiled (we won't judge).
