
The Underrated Pleasures of Eastern European Dumplings - CraneWorm
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/the-underrated-pleasures-of-eastern-european-dumplings
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JBReefer
Eastern European food (and Mexican and some Chinese cuisines) are deeply
underrated - they belong in the same category as French or Japanese, but long-
held prejudices devalue them. It's a pity, but it also means you can get an
_amazing_ meal for cheap in Greenpoint.

~~~
kleiba
When I lived in California, Mexican food was cheap and almost always
delicious. Where I currently live (somewhere in Europe), Mexican food is
always expensive, sometimes good, but most often mediocre. I am yet to have an
amazing and cheap Mexican meal over here.

~~~
icantdrive55
If someone held a gun to my head, and told he to open a restaurant with my
meager saving; I always felt it would be a take-out burrito place.

I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like a burrito, or pizza.

My point is I think a clean burrito joint would go over practically anywhere.

It needs to be clean, and the portions need to be generous, and the owner
needs to keep an eye on the business.

~~~
PeterisP
In many parts of Europe kebab shops have taken the role that burritos and such
occupy in Americas; the dishes are a bit different in ingredients and taste,
but they're similar enough in the business details & way of consumption to be
pretty much replacements for each other.

~~~
dsr_
The US is ready for a kebab invasion. It will almost certainly happen in the
next five years.

The peak will hit when a franchise chain of kebab places goes national.

I'd keep my eyes on Chicken & Rice Guys (3 locations around Boston, plus a
truck), but they really need ten million dollars or so to win the domestic
market.

~~~
girvo
And after trying to steal my countries idiotic politicians statement about
smashed avo and millenials, you’ll be stealing our HSPs [0] next!

[0] Halal Snack Pack, served originally by west Sydney kebab shops, it’s
literally the greatest food to eat drunk. Which I find amusing — we do love
our irony down here!

~~~
toomanybeersies
Oh dear lord I love HSPs. Nothing like shovelling 2000 calories of meat and
potatoes down your gullet after a boozy night.

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danharaj
One day I'd like to eat a flight of dumplings from all countries that have
something that could be construed as a dumpling.

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efrafa
We have those dumplings in Slovakia too, they are called “pirohy”. They are
pretty delicious but its a lot of work. I also think that food is slowly dying
as most of the people I know don’t make them any more.

~~~
psynapse
Australian living in Slovakia here. Shout out for Bryndzové halušky.

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defen
If anyone here lives in Portland OR...go to Kachka and have the sour cherry
vareniki. Everything there is great, but those in particular are incredible.

~~~
Itaxpica
Bonnie Frumkin Morales, The chef at Kachcka, released a cookbook recently
which is a must-buy for anyone remotely interested in Russian cooking.
Everything I’ve made from it has been a gem.

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your-nanny
We make pierogi every Christmas Eve. It's a lot of work.

~~~
hinkley
Mrs T’s sautéed in butter with some bacon bits is a lot less work and still
pretty tasty.

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galfarragem
Cuisines are like languages: all are good when you understand them, the
difference is that some are easier to get into (e.g. Italian food or English
language) than others. They evolved slowly over the centuries and what was not
worthy would not stick.

When you arrive in Poland its cuisine can be very difficult to get used:
pierogi (dumplings with potato or cabbage inside.. hardly ever meat!), sour
soups, overcooked cabbage.. but then you start to discover sauces, creative
salads, breaded fried stuff, sophisticated cakes and you realize that their
cuisine is just as good as others.

Portuguese _Açorda_ (1) is literally old bread inside hot water with herbs, a
bit of olive oil and eggs. It looks austere but if you imagine yourself some
centuries ago with only these ingredients, I challenge you to make something
better.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A7orda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A7orda)

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throwaway84742
Pro tip: since fairly recently, Trader Joe’s carries fairly authentic Pelmeni
in the US. They have a little less meat than Pelmeni would usually have, but
other than that they’re surprisingly good, even by Russian/Ukrainian
standards.

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dimitar
My grandmother used to make awesome blueberry dumplings (вареники з чорницею)
which were served with smetana (a type of sour cream) and they were wonderful!
My teenage-girl cousins would make room in their diets to just a piece - I can
only imagine the willpower needed! The blueberries were locally picked from
the Carpathian mountains in Ukraine and very fresh.

Next up in Eastern European and Middle eastern cuisine - Cabbage rolls!

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passiveincomelg
It's a little further east than Ukraine et al but I absolutely love the
Taiwanese dumpling chain Ba Fang Yun Ji Dumplings
([https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g13808671-d101...](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g13808671-d10191409-Reviews-
Ba_Fang_Yun_Ji_Dumplings-Zhongshan_District_Taipei.html)).

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baybal2
Eastern European dumplings are Mongolian dumplings, Mongolian dumplings are
Chinese dumplings ;)

~~~
Density
They've evolved as they traveled through the cultures! I've had all of them
and there are very distinct differences.

Mongolian dumplings are very similar to steamed Chinese dumplings, but
strictly with ground beef or mutton.

Eastern European dumplings are smaller, usually boiled and made in bulk.

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wslh
Adding Kreplach to the list: https ://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreplach

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fouc
Speaking of Eastern European food, what do you folks think about schnitzels?

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eps
That's an Austrian dish.

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vetinari
At the time, Austro-Hungarian empire controlled a big chunk of Eastern Europe.

So they both have schnitzels, though the Austrian version is veal and the EE
version is pork.

In the end, it is a variation of Italian dish.

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Markoff
they are no more eastern European than Chinese, European pierogi it's pretty
much same stuff as Chinese jiaozi, so the title it's misleading

~~~
koliber
You're right that pierogi, and in fact all dumplings, and even pasta,
originate from China. However, they are different. The differences may be
subtle to someone who is not familiar with them, enjoys generalizations, or
lacks taste buds.

The world of dumplings literally spans the globe and is extremely varied!

You can put different things in them. Even if you look at "meat stuffed
dumplings", you can use different types of meat, that is prepared and flavored
in different ways. The dough can be made of different types of flour and with
ingredients in different proportions. They can be boiled, deep fried, pan
fried. They can be eaten by themselves, or doused in butter, fried onions,
sour cream, bacon bits, or who knows what. The choice of stuffing is
tremendous, spanning meat, cheese, potatoes, fruits, and mushrooms! Don't even
get started on different shapes, which are also an important part of the meal.

It's like saying "bread is bread" and throwing croissants, sour rye, and cron-
bread into the same proverbial basket. Technically true, but does not add much
to the conversation.

~~~
jerry40
How it is possible to know who invented any sort of food? You never can be
sure.

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crispinb
Bon vivant trivia, tribal sneers, celeb gossip & huffy etiquette advice seems
to be about all the wealthy inner city is interested in these days. Shame the
infection has spread here.

~~~
greatquux
What?

~~~
mastax
Somehow, even an article about dumplings is offensive.

~~~
crispinb
Not offensive. Boring and trivial.

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Slavic
Stopped at "... varenyky, the Ukrainian version of what in Poland are called
pierogi...."

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cylinder
Disappointing how HN seems to have gone all-in on being a “mental floss” site.

~~~
dang
Today does have a couple more outliers than usual but if you look back at
previous front pages at archive.org, you'll see it hasn't changed all that
much. Five years ago today there was an article on Stonehenge, a Kickstarter
for a feature film, and a "my best life hack" piece:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20130425093132/https://news.ycom...](https://web.archive.org/web/20130425093132/https://news.ycombinator.com/)

It's part of the mandate of HN to cover an assortment of everything, not just
tech and startups, so long as it gratifies intellectual curiosity
([https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)).
That's one of the best things about HN, in my view, so I hope it doesn't
change. Can dumplings gratify intellectual curiosity? Of course they can!

