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Type | Savory bread roll |
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Place of origin | Eastern Europe |
Main ingredients | Yeast dough, cabbage, onion, ground beef, seasonings |
Variations | Cheese |
Bierock is a yeast dough pastry pocket sandwich with savory filling, [1] originating in Russia. [2] [3] The dish is common among the Volga German community in the United States and Argentina. It was brought to the United States in the 1870s by German Russian Mennonite immigrants. [4] It has developed strong cultural associations with the cuisine of the Midwestern United States.
The soft yeast rolls contain some sugar, butter and eggs, and either warm water, milk, or a mix of both. The filling is a basic mix of onion, ground beef and cabbage [1] which can be made more complicated by the addition of different cheese blends, condiments and seasonings like caraway seeds.
Bierock is similar to both pirogi/pirozhki of Russian cuisine and börek of Turkish cuisine. There is debate about the actual etymology of the word bierock. Traditionally it was supposed that bierock was derived from the Russian word pirog. [2] [5] [3] [6] However, a recent theory speculates that the word bierock may be derived from börek. [7] This theory is based on both geographic close proximity of the former Volga German ASSR to present day Kazakhstan as well as the influence of considerable population of historically Turkic speaking peoples such as Kazakhs and Tatars living in the Volga region. [8] Neither theory, however, has been conclusively proven.
Other spellings are bieroch, beerock, berrock, bierox, beerrock, biddicks, and kraut bierock in the U.S, and pirok or kraut pirok in Argentina.
In Argentina, the Fiesta del Pirok (Bierock Festival) takes place every July, in Crespo, Entre Ríos Province. [9]
Argentine cuisine is described as a blending of cultures, from the Indigenous peoples of Argentina who focused on ingredients such as humita, potatoes, cassava, peppers, tomatoes, beans, and yerba mate, to Mediterranean influences brought by the Spanish during the colonial period. This led to cultural blending of criollos, Indigenous, and sub-Saharan African in the cuisine. Later, this was complemented by the significant influx of Italian and Spanish immigrants to Argentina during the 19th and 20th centuries, who incorporated plenty of their food customs and dishes such as pizzas, pasta and Spanish tortillas.
The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
Beignet is a type of deep-fried pastry of French origin. It is commonly made from pâte à choux, but can also be made using rice flour or yeast-leavened batters. Beignets can be served in a variety of preparations, the most common being dusted with confectioner’s sugar. The pastry is popular in French, Italian, and American cuisines.
Pirozhki are Eastern European baked or fried yeast-leavened boat-shaped buns with a variety of fillings. Pirozhki are a popular street food and comfort food in Eastern Europe.
A knish or is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish snack food consisting of a filling covered with dough that is typically baked or sometimes deep fried.
A runza is a yeast dough bread pocket with a filling consisting of beef, cabbage or sauerkraut, onions, and seasonings. Runzas can be baked into various shapes such as a half-moon, a rectangle, a round (bun), a square, or a triangle. The runzas sold by the Runza restaurant chain are rectangular while many of the bierocks sold in Kansas are round buns.
Strudel is a type of layered pastry with a filling that is usually sweet, but savoury fillings are also common. It became popular in the 18th century throughout the Habsburg Empire. Strudel is part of Austrian cuisine and German cuisine but is also common in other Central European cuisines. In Italy it is recognized as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) of South Tyrol.
Torta is a culinary term that can, depending on the cuisine, refer to cakes, pies, flatbreads, sandwiches, or omelettes.
Börek or burek is a family of pastries or pies found in the Balkans, Turkey, Armenia, Levant, Northern Africa and Central Asia. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach, or potatoes. A borek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. They are usually baked but some varieties can be fried. Borek is sometimes sprinkled with sesame or nigella seeds, and it can be served hot or cold.
Gözleme is a savory Turkish stuffed turnover. The dough is usually unleavened, and made only with flour, salt and water, but gözleme can be made from yeast dough as well. It is similar to bazlama, but is lightly brushed with butter or oil, whereas bazlama is prepared without fat. The dough is rolled thin, then filled with various toppings, sealed, and cooked over a griddle. Gözleme may sometimes be made from prepackaged hand-rolled leaves of yufka dough.
Pastilla is a meat or seafood pie in Maghrebi cuisine made with warqa dough (ورقة), which is similar to filo. It is a specialty of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, where its variation is known as malsouka. It has more recently been spread by emigrants to France, Israel, and North America.
Bourekas or burekas are a popular baked pastry in Sephardic Jewish cuisine and Israeli cuisine. A variation of the burek, a popular pastry throughout southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East, Israeli bourekas are made in a wide variety of shapes and a vast selection of fillings, and are typically made with either puff pastry, filo dough, or brik pastry, depending on the origin of the baker.
Tatar cuisine is primarily the cuisine of the Volga Tatars, who live in Tatarstan, Russia, and surrounding areas.
Fleischkuekle is a deep-fried turnover similar to Crimean Tatar cheburek. The dish is a traditional Black Sea Germans / Crimea Germans recipe, and through immigration became an addition to the cuisine of North Dakota. This dish is popular among the many German-Russian immigrant families of North Dakota.
Pirog is a baked case of dough with either sweet or savory filling. The dish is common in Eastern European cuisines.
Cheburek are deep-fried turnovers with a filling of ground or minced meat and onions. A popular street dish, they are made with a single round piece of dough folded over the filling in a crescent shape. They have become widespread in the former Soviet-aligned countries of Eastern Europe in the 20th century.
The Crimean Tatar cuisine is primarily the cuisine of the Crimean Tatars, who live on the Crimean Peninsula. The traditional cuisine of the Crimean Tatars has similarities with that of Greeks, Italians, Balkan peoples, Nogais, North Caucasians, and Volga Tatars, although some national dishes and dietary habits vary between different Crimean Tatar regional subgroups; for example, fish and produce are more popular among Yaliboylu and Tat dishes while meat and dairy is more prevalent in Steppe Tatar cuisine. Many Uzbek dishes were incorporated into Crimean Tatar national cuisine during exile in Central Asia since 1944, and these dishes have become prevalent in Crimea since the return. Uzbek samsa, laghman, and plov (pilaf) are sold in most Tatar roadside cafes in Crimea as national dishes. In turn, some Crimean Tatar dishes, including Chiburekki, have been adopted by peoples outside Crimea, such as in Turkey and the North Caucasus.
Shekarbura is a sweet pastry.