October 8th is National Pierogi Day. Pierogi, dumplings of Central and Eastern European origin, are traditionally stuffed with cheese, fruit, ground meat, mashed potato or sauerkraut. They can be served baked, boiled grilled, fried/sautéed and steamed. They’re typically cooked in butter with sautéed onions. You can make them or buy them. Personally, we eat a lot of Mrs. T’s pierogies.

We’ve previously offered 50 different ways to serve pierogi. There are toppings, dips, and more elaborate preparations like bacon-wrapped pierogi appetizers, pierogi casseroles, pierogi crostini and much more.

Pierogi is the plural word in Polish; the singular form is pieróg, pronounced pye-ROOG. In the U.S., you’ll find the plural Americanized to pierogies. The largest national brand, Mrs. T’s, spells her product “pierogies.”

Pierogi, along with Polish sausages, is the most recognizable Polish food abroad.
 
So today, here’s an idea for entertaining or family fun: a pierogi bar.

It becomes a full lunch or dinner with the addition of Polish kielbasa sausage.

Serve them cooked or fried (we’ve boiled them in soup, like gnocchi and wontons).

 
 
PIEROGI FOR YOUR PIEROGI BAR

Start with sourcing the pierogi.

 
 
SIDES YOUR PIEROGI BAR

Offer a few sides to round out the meal. We’ve served:

 
And for dessert pierogi:

 
 
TO SET UP YOUR PIEROGI BAR

We especially like pierogi with beer. Other options:

 
Ready to party?

Put together your guest list!
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF PIEROGI>
 
 
> 50 WAYS TO EAT PIEROGI

[1] Fried meat pierogi ready to be dipped or topped (photo © Karolina Kolodziejczak | Unsplash).

[2] Sautéed in butter, topped with minced parsley and served with sour cream (photos #2, #3 and #4 © Mrs. T’s Pierogi).

[3] Serve them on skewers with dips.

[4] This is a pierogi casserole, a shepherd’s pie.

[5] Pierogi for dessert: blueberry pierogi with ice cream and fresh blueberries (photo © Millie’s Pierogi).

[1] Elda’s cooking and grilling sauces can be used on just about everything (all photos © Elda’s Kitchen).

[2] The “Best Sellers” box.

[3] Honey Ginger Soy sauce goes with everything from egg rolls to sweet potato fries.

[4] The Wok & Roll Box. There are six gift boxes, and individual flavor trios are also available.

Elda’s Kitchen produces sauces that are very gift-worthy, as well as a treat at your own table. The line of cooking and grilling sauces hits the categories of vegan-friendly, verified Non-GMO, gluten-free, no MSG or preservatives, and no high fructose corn syrup. And they are delicious and worth your attention.

 
There’s even a Peach Habanero sauce that works on pancakes.

We even mixed it into plain yogurt: yum!

Essentially, whatever savory food you make, there’s an Elda’s sauce to mix into it, top it, or mix it into.

People who love condiments should definitely sample the line.

People who need food gifts have six boxed set options (below)that are sure to please.

For stocking stuffers and party favors, individual bottles are sold in three-packs.
 
 

 
 
Head to Elda’s Kitchen and get yours!
 
 
THE HISTORY OF SAUCES

Mankind doubtlessly taught themselves to mix up sauces before our first recorded evidence. The oldest recorded sauce in European cuisine is garum, the fish sauce used by the Ancient Romans. It was ubiquitous, used, as some have described, like modern Americans use ketchup.

We know that by 200 C.E., Romans were using a variety of sauces beyond garum. Sauces not only added flavor; they covered up the flavor of less-fresh foods.

Apicius, author of the first-known cookbook in the first century B.C.E., wrote at the end of one of his recipes for a particularly flavorsome sauce: “No one at table will know what he is eating” [source]. Roman sauces were usually thickened with wheat flour or crumbled pastry. Honey was used to make a sweet-sour sauce.

Each world cuisine evolved to make sauces to complement their foods. They added flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to dishes both savory and sweet.

The classic French mother sauces* were created in the 17th century by La Varenne, and codified in the 18th and 19th centuries by Carême and Escoffier.

Sauce is a French word, taken from the Latin salsa, meaning salted.

 
There is a world of sauces to discover: beyond American, beyond European. Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East all have wonderful sauces that you can use with your American fare to make “fusion” dishes.

Seek them out, and enjoy them.
 
 
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*The mother sauces are tomato, hollandaise, béchamel, velouté, and espagnole. They are further used as a base to create the secondary sauces: mornay, sauce suprême, creole, béarnaise and demi-glace. Here’s more about them here, here and here.

†The cookbook, De Re Coquinaria, authored by “Apicius,” is thought to have been compiled in the late 4th or early 5th century C.E. and given that title (“On the Subject of Cooking”). The name Apicius had long been associated with an excessively refined love of food, exemplified by Marcus Gavius Apicius, a Roman gourmet who lived sometime in the 1st century C.E. The author of the book is one Caelius Apicius; however, no person by this name otherwise exists in the historical record. The book was no doubt compiled by a person or persons who wished to remain anonymous [source].

We’ve begun to sample treats as potential holiday gifts, and received some that shouldn’t wait for the holidays. Two of these are featured here today, both in the ever-popular chocolate category. Both need not wait for the holidays. Their apple pie themes are a perfect fit right now! Both are imited editions for the season.
 
 
1. SUGAR PLUM CHOCOLATE APPLE PIE BARK

We started with the Apple Pie Bark from Sugar Plum Chocolates (photo #1). The confectioner has married milk chocolate with organically-sourced apple pieces and finely crushed graham crackers. It’s yummy!

The apple pieces are dried for a nice bit of chewiness amind the supple, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate.

It’s not unlike eating a chocolate-covered apple pie – a perfect combination.

The Apple Pie Bark is packaged in a 1-pound, seasonal gift box that looks (to us) like a cute little barn.

It’s available exclusively on GoldBelly for $55.
 
 
The Bark As A Chocolate Bar

Sugar Plum also makes an apple pie chocolate bar: milk chocolate with dried apple chunks, a hint of cinnamon and a dash of sea salt (photo #2).

It’s available on the Sugar Plum Chocolates website.

A two-pack is $9.99.
 
 
2. COMPARTES ARTISAN WHITE CHOCOLATE BAR

For something in gourmet white chocolate (photo #3), head to Compartés.

It’s packed full of ingredients that emulate homemade apple pie: chunks of apples, cinnamon baked apples, caramelized cinnamon streusel pieces, and swirls of cinnamon inside.

It’s an apple pie in chocolate bar form!

If you give out gourmet treats for Halloween, pick up some–including some for yourself.

Each bar is $11.99.
 
 
Enjoy the season with delicious treats like these.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE BARK
 
 
> CHOCOLATE GLOSSARY: TYPES & TERMS

[1] Apple pie chocolate bark with chunks of apples and crust. Get it at Goldbelly (photo © Goldbelly).

[2] The bark in chocolate bar form. Get it from Sugar Plum Chocolates (photo © Sugar Plum).

[2] An apple pie in a bar. Get it here (photo © Compartés Chocolatier).