Pierogi (also
perogi,
perogy,
pirohi,
piroghi,
pirogi,
pirogen,
piroshke,
pierogy,
pirozhki, or
pyrohy), from the
Proto-Slavic "pir" (festivity) is the name most commonly used in English speaking areas to refer to a variety of
Slavic semicircular (or, in some cuisines, square) stuffed
dumplings of
unleavened dough and varying ingredients. Their specific origins are unknown; though they have strong ties to Slavic culture, similar foods occur in many cultures across Europe and Asia.
In some languages, they are known by words derived from the root of the word "to boil". These include the Belarusan vareniki (варэнiкi), Latvian vareņiki (borrowed from Russian), Russian vareniki (варе́ник[и]), Ukrainian varenyky (варе́ник[и]) (literally "boiled thing," from the adjective form varenyy). In these languages, words derived from "pir", such as the Russian pirogi (пироги) refer to a different type of food.
Pierogi are usually small enough to be served several or many at a time, so the singular form is rather rare; people usually talk about several of them. This has affected forms of the word in different languages.
In Polish, pierogi is plural, pieróg being singular (dashed o does not denote stress in Polish, but changes the pronunciation to English oo, like in look). Similarly, in Swedish, one of them would be a pirog while the plural form is created by adding -er at the end. Other Slavic languages follow that scheme (Ukrainian pyrizhky).
