Today is National Pierogi Day
Posted on October 8, 2010
Today is National Pierogi Day. The pierogi arrived in the U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century from Eastern Europe. During the 1940's, the pockets - stuffed with sauerkraut, cheese, mashed potatoes, cabbage, onion, meat and any combination thereof - became a staple of church fundraisers in ethnic neighborhoods in the northeast and throughout the upper-Midwest. By the early 1950's, pierogi cravings broadened to include Americans of all ethnicities.
Mrs. T's, the largest produce of pierogies in the U.S., sent a pierogi mascot out in New York City to celebrate the holiday. Ted Twardzik Senior, founder of Mrs. T's, saw an opportunity to launch a pierogi business in the 1950s. For years, his mother, Mary (the actual Mrs. T.) and her friends, would gather around the kitchen table and make pierogies for their church. On October 8, 1952, Ted produced the company's very first samples and delivered them to the local grocery store. Mrs. T's says it sold enough pierogies last year to stretch 25,000 miles and blanket 888 football fields.
Natioanl Pierogi Day falls on October 8th each year.
Here's a video of pierogis being made at Rudy's Strudel & Bakery in Parma, Ohio.