Tale of An Ukrainian Perogy King

During the 2003 Perogy Fest at the Ukrainian Loft restaurant in Canmore in the Canadian Rockies, Edmonton lawyer, Zac was crowned "Perogy King" after eating 43 perogies in one sitting.

What is a perogy and is it the same as a pierogy?

The Ukraine Today website (accessed 14/06/05) quoted Dr. Myron Hlynka:

Varenyky (or pyrohy or perogies) are dough pockets filled with potato, or potato and cheddar cheese,or kapusta (sauerkraut), or cottage cheese, or blueberries, or cherries, or ... Ukrainian varenyky are boiled and resemble to various degrees Polish pierogi, Russian pilmeni, Italian ravioli,Jewish kreplach, or Chinese wonton. Varenyky are very are often served with onions and sour cream. Mmmmm. The word "varenyky" is used throughout Ukraine.The singular form of "varenyky" is "varenyk." Betcha' can't have just one! The word "pyrohy" is used by Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian descendents of pre World War I settlers from Western Ukraine. The singular form of "pyrohy" is "pyrih." The word "perogies" is a Canadianization/Americanization of "pyrohy."

The Ukraine Today website contains links to perogy recipes. The typical perogy contains a lot of cream in the dough and filling, as can be expected of grandma's food from Northern Europe because of the cold weather.

Lower fat versions can easily be made in the home. Here is a suggestion, of savoury sweet potato perogies with chunky apple sauce and caramelized onions drizzled with balsamic vinegar.



It is an amazing feat to eat 43 perogies in one sitting. Although, one suspects the last couple were eaten standing up. Zac, considered royalty in the perogy world, still proudly holds the record today.