VOA慢速英语--来自东欧的饺子:皮耶罗饺

Pierogi Dumpling Project Brings Volunteers Together 

Chinese steamed buns. Italian ravioli. Indian samosas¹. No matter where you live, chances are there is a local dumpling – a small mass of dough² usually cooked with meat and vegetables inside.

Today, we are talking about the pierogi, a dumpling from Eastern Europe. Traditional pierogi fillings include potatoes, sauerkraut, cheese and even fruit.

Olena Apostoluk is an American of Ukrainian-English descent³. She has been making pierogis for 17 years.

“We call it ‘pyrohy’ but really, it’s ‘varenyky’ because you are boiling it. So, Americanized it’s ‘pierogis, pyrogis’ -- depends on where you come from.”

Olena operates a volunteer food project out of the St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic⁴ Cathedral near Cleveland, Ohio. It is called the Pierogi Project. It raises money to help pay the cost of operating the church.

Olena and her team prepare and sell 130 to 180 kilograms of pierogis to the public every Thursday and Friday. During the Christian⁵ holidays of Lent and Christmas, they make and sell about 600 kilograms of pierogis each week.

“The people who buy pierogis are regular people that have been buying pierogis from us for many years. Or a lot of people are word-of-mouth. I do have a handful of restaurants and bars that buy from me.”

Making hundreds and sometimes thousands of pierogis by hand each week is a lot of work. Olena prepares for the task by completing a special job each day. On Monday, the sauerkraut filling is prepared. The mixture arrives in a large container. Olena rinses⁶ it in water and then presses the water out. She adds spices, and then forms the filling into small balls.

On Tuesday, the potato filling is prepared. Olena uses only potatoes that cook well in water: the Russet Norkotah or Burbank from the state of Idaho. She and her team hand peel, cook, and smash⁷ about 20 kilograms of potatoes or more. The cheese filling is also prepared on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Olena prepares the dumpling dough.

“The dough recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law. Everybody has their own little dough recipe but mine works for me. It’s nice and soft. The customers that come in, they really like our dough.”

For the dough, Olena mixes about 10 kilograms of flour with water, milk and salt in an electric mixing bowl for about 20 minutes. She knows from touch when the dough is ready to cool.

Early on Thursday, the whole team comes together for the final stage of the pierogi production.

?“The dough is rolled out and then after it’s rolled out there’s a roller that will cut the rounds. The ladies over there, they are pinching. We call it pinching pierogis. So, they are just taking the dough rounds and making sure that they are closed, so that when we cook them, they don’t open up.”

After the pierogis are put together, they are boiled, and then packaged. At 8 in the morning, the first pierogis go on sale.

Linda Hupert has been working on the Pierogi Project for about four years. Before that, her mother was a volunteer. But now, she says she doesn’t have much family left.

So, my family has become the people here at church. So, that’s my extended family.

The Pierogi Project does more than make pierogis for the community.

It brings people together.

I’m Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

dough – n. a mixture of flour, water, and other ingredients that is baked to make bread, cookies, etc.

sauerkraut - n. a German food made of a vegetable (called a cabbage) that is cut into small pieces and soaked in a salty and sour liquid

volunteer - n. a person who does work without getting paid to do it

cathedral - n. the main church of an area that is headed by a bishop⁸

regular - adj. happening over and over again at the same time or in the same way : occurring every day, week, month, etc.

word of mouth - adj. spoken language

bars - n. buildings or rooms where alcoholic⁹ drinks and sometimes food are served

peel - v. to remove the skin from (a fruit, vegetable, etc.)

recipe - n. a set of instructions for making food

pinching - v. to squeeze between your thumb and finger

packaged - v. when something is placed in a container

1 samosas   

n.萨莫萨三角饺( samosa的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The food will be samosas, chicken curry and rice, and naan bread. 食品将是五香三角菜饺，咖喱鸡肉饭和印度飞饼。 来自互联网
• A: How about some vegetable samosas to start and today's special chicken curry? 甲：那么先尝一尝蔬菜炸馅角然后再试‘日精选-咖哩鸡’好不好？ 来自互联网

2 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

3 descent   

n.下降，下倾，斜坡，坡道，血统，世系

参考例句：

• We watched anxiously during her descent from the tree.我们焦急地看着她从树上爬下来。
• Many Americans are of English descent.许多美国人的祖籍是英国。

4 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 rinses   

v.漂洗( rinse的第三人称单数 )；冲洗；用清水漂洗掉（肥皂泡等）；（用清水）冲掉

参考例句：

• This soap rinses easily. 这肥皂容易漂清。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Another method of process change is to substitute standing baths and rinses for running ones. 工艺过程改变的另一方法是用固定式的浴槽和漂洗代替连续式的。 来自辞典例句

7 smash   

v.粉碎，打碎；n.轰动的演出，巨大的成功

参考例句：

• We heard the smash of plates breaking in the kitchen.我们听到厨房里盘子破碎的声音。
• The gifted author wrote one smash after another.这个天才作家创作了一篇又一篇轰动一时的作品。

8 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

9 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。