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The
German
Colonies
on the Volga River
Foodways
Volga German dishes were typically nutritious
combinations that included Schnitzel Suppe und Kartofffel Wurst (fruit
soup and potato sausage), Kraut und Brei (sauerkraut and pork ribs), or
Klees und Arbuza (fried eggs and dough with watermelon). Shown below are
a few common Volga German dishes that were served in Norka:
Grebbel (a German-Russian Doughnut)
1/2 c. soft butter (no substitute)
1/2 pint sour cream (do not use fat free or low fat)
4 eggs-beaten
4 c. flour
1/4 teas. soda (baking)
2 tbls. sugar 1/2 teas.
salt 2 teas. baking powder
Sift dry ingredients. Combine butter, sour cream and eggs, add dry ingredients. Makes a
soft sough. Let rest at room temp. 1 hour - will rise. Knead down and roll out on lightly
floured board to about 1/8" thick. Cut into desired shape and cut center slits (2)
twist and drop into 350 degree hot oil. Watch closely and turn over and fry to lightly
browned. Drain on paper towels, shake in powdered sugar.
Recipe From Zion Daughter Cookbook, Portland Oregon by Mrs.
Peter Klaus
Schnitzsuppe (Dried Fruit Soup)
1 lb. mixed dried fruits
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup raisins
1/2 tsp. soda
3 qts. cold water
1/2 cup cold water
1 pt. sweet (whipping) cream
3 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
Wash dried fruits and raisins. Drain. Add cold water and boil for 1 hour.
Make paste of flour, soda and 1/2 cup cold water. Remove soup from heat and add
paste slowly, stirring. Add small amount of soup mixture to cream, stirring
constantly. Add rest of cream to soup and heat through. Do not boil. Add
butter and sugar. Serves 8.
Esther Schreiber - Portland, Oregon (contributed by her
daughter Marilyn Pefferly)
Bierrocks -- Krautkoche or Kraut Kuchen
or Bierrocks or Runzas or....
The name krautkoche (the K's are pronounced like a hard G) for this item
seems to be somewhat unique to Portland. In other parts of the United States and
Canada they are known as runzas and bierocks. The word bierock was not brought
into Russia by the Volga Germans from Germany and cannot be traced back to
Germany (it does not exist in the German language) because it is a derivative of
Russian "Pirog" which means "Pie". The Volga German dialect often has a very
similar sound for the explosive letters P and B; and use the soft G, which
sounds like K. Thus, pirog becomes bierock. It is probably
not a coincidence that bierocks are close in both name and preparation to the
Eastern European pierogi, Turkish börek, Albanian Byrek, and Yugoslavian Burek.
History
A krautkoche, bierock or runza is a
yeast dough bread pocket with a filling consisting of beef, cabbage or
sauerkraut, onions, and seasonings. They are baked in various shapes such as a
half-moon, rectangle, round (bun), square, or triangle. In Nebraska, the runza
is usually baked in a rectangular shape. The bierocks of Kansas, on the other
hand, are generally baked in the shape of a bun.
Both the bierock and the runza sandwich have German-Russian roots going back to
the 18th century. The term ''bierock'' comes from the Russian word ''pirogi'' or
''pirozhki'' and is the name for any food consisting of a filling stuffed into
dough. The recipe was passed down from one generation to the next, and was
brought to the Midwest of America, and particularly to the states of Kansas and
Nebraska, by the Volga Germans. Originally bierocks were served to ranch and
field workers for lunch. Today bierocks and runzas are enjoyed at any time and
can often be found at church fund-raisers and socials in the Kansas and Nebraska
area. In 1949, Sarah "Sally" Everett and her brother, Alex Brening, opened the
first "Runza Drive-Inn" in Lincoln, Nebraska. The trade name and trademark of
Runza Restaurants now belong to
Donald R. Everett, Sarah's son.
Make Your Own
Make your favorite white bread dough. Chop one head of cabbage and
one large onion. Heat about 1/9 cup oil in pan and add cabbage onion salt and pepper
to taste. Put on lid and steam until tender - do not brown. Drain well.
Roll out bread dough and cut into 4" squares. Top with a heaping spoon full of
cabbage. Bring corners together and pinch well. Dip in melted butter and
place seam side down on baking pans. Let rise 1/2 hour. Bake at 400 for about 20-30
minutes. Cool.
Recipe and photo of handmade
spoons brought from Russia contributed by
Marcia Staunton
- Portland, Oregon
Here's more recipes for
Bierocks,
Kraut Bierocks,
Pam's Bierocks,
Runzas,
Nebraska Runzas
More on Pierogi from
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Pierogi are a kind of dumpling also known as piragi,
perogi, perogy, piroghi, pirogi, piroshki, pirozhki, pyrohy, or varenyky.
Most English-speakers treat these forms as singular and
form the plural by adding '-s', but a few consider them plural and form the
singular by removal of the '-i' or -'y'.
Pierogi are of virtually untraceable Central or Eastern
European origin; claims have been staked for the Poles, the Russians, the
Latvians, the Lithuanians, the Ukrainians, the Rusyns, the Slovaks, and the
Czechs (but never Germans - vera )
Pierogi are square- or crescent-shaped dumplings of
unleavened dough, stuffed with sauerkraut, cheese, mashed potatoes, cabbage,
onion, meat, hard-boiled eggs (the last is rather Mennonite-specific), or any
combination thereof, or with a fruit filling. They are typically fried or boiled
until they float and then covered with butter or oil; other ways include the
Latvian method of glazing with egg whites, baking, and serving with soup; the
Mennonite tradition of baking and serving with borscht; and the Polish way of
boiling, then frying in butter, and then topping with bread crumbs. They are
typically served with plenty of sour cream, and the savoury ones topped with
fried bacon or onions. Most popular Polish kind are savoury "pierogi ruskie",
stuffed with cheese, mashed potatoes and onion. Meat-filled, boiled dumplings
called pelmeni (ïåëüìåíè), originating in Siberia, are very popular throughout
Russia and in other parts of the former Soviet Union.
The word "pierogi" in the United States commonly is
taken to mean Polish pierogi; see description above. The word pirog (or its
equivalent in the various Slavic languages) means "pie", which can take the form
of a stuffed dumpling, pastry, or two-crusted pie. Varenyky or vareniki are
boiled pierogi (from varyty, to boil) and are particularly Ukrainian. In
Russian, "piroghi" (ïèðîãè) is the plural form of the generic "pirog", which
usually refers to a large two-crusted pie and not a dumpling (pelmeni or
vareniki) or filled bun (pirozhki).
In Russian cuisine, "pirozhki" (ïèðîæêè) are small buns
made of either yeast dough or short pastry, encasing one of many different
fillings, and either baked or fried. The work "pirozhki" is the plural of the
singular "pirozhok" (ïèðîæîê) which is in turn the diminutive of the word "pirog"
The stress in "pirozhki" is properly placed as follows:
pi-rozh-KI.
Pierogi are popular throughout Russia, Central Europe,
and Eastern Europe, including Greece, and in areas of North America where
immigrants brought their cuisine. Pierogi at first were a family food among
immigrants, but in the post-World War II era, freshly cooked pierogi became a
staple of fundraisers by ethnic churches. By the 1960s pierogies were a common
supermarket item in the frozen food aisles of the United States and Canada.
Eben Gläce (Strawberry Dumplings)
4 c. flour 2 eggs 1 c. hot water. Make dough. Let rest. Divide dough and
roll one 1/4 at a time. Roll as for pie dough. Cut into 4" squares. Top with
sweetened fresh strawberries (use only fresh berries) and 1/2 teas. dried bread crumbs.
Bring corners up and pinch well. Drop into boiling water -cook 5-7 minutes. Drain. Cover
with cream and melted butter.
This is a entree' not a dessert.
My grandparents came from Norka. This what they ate and what I
grew up eating.
Marcia Staunton - Portland, Oregon
Grow and Enjoy
Schwartzbeeren as They Did in Russia
One traditional Volga German foodstuff is
Schwartzbeere', the fruit of an edible
form of black nightshade (Solanum nigrum).
Sometimes known as Blaubeeren,
Nachschatten, even
Scheissbeeren,
Schwartzbeeren are distinct from their
cousins, the garden huckleberry and wonderberry.
Both in the old country and later in the new,
Volga German women used Schwartzbeeren
to top Kuche',
to fill Maultasche',
and as to garnish geschmeltzte
dumplings -- Glace,
Klees,
Glump,
Knebel -- call 'em what you will.
Schwartzbeeren
are easy to grow if you have a spot that receives sunlight all day long. Just
dig up and rake the area, allowing 4 to 9 square feet per plant. Sprinkle seed
over the prepared area, cover with 1/16 inch of soil, and water in. Although
this 2- to 3-foot-tall annual is quite drought-resistant, it will yield better
if it is irrigated during dry periods. Don't be in too much of a hurry to pick
your Schwartzbeeren,
though; the berries are most flavorful when they are allowed to ripen to a dull,
purplish black.
If you want to grow the same kind of
Schwartzbeeren as they grew in Russia,
you can. For a free packet of seed, write or e-mail Sam Brungardt. Sam's
address is 739 Como Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55103-1402; e-mail
sam739is@hotmail.com Several recipes using Schwartzbeeren are in the North
Star Chapter of Minnesota's Sei Unser
Gast (Be
Our Guest) cookbook, which Sam edited.
Try Grandma Webber's
White Wine recipe
Learn more....
Try making one of the recipes shown above and
pass on the Volga German traditions through foods.
View the wonderful documentary by Prairie
Public Broadcasting titled Schmeckfest: Food Traditions of the Germans from
Russia available from
AHSGR and the
North Dakota State University
Libraries.
View the
documentary videotape provided by Germans from Russia Cultural Preservation
Foundation titled Grandma's Kitchen
available from the North Dakota
State University Libraries.
Read Küche Kochen: The AHSGR Cookbook
available from AHSGR.
North Star Chapter of Minnesota's Sei Unser
Gast (Be
Our Guest) cookbook | 