CABBAGE & ONION PIROSHKI (16th c.)
This week, I decided to make another recent, cozy Tasting History recipe: Cabbage & Onion Piroshki. Piroshki were mentioned in the Domostroi ("Domestic Order"), a 16th-century Russian set of household rules, instructions, and advice (by an unknown author) from the time of Ivan the Terrible pertaining to various religious, social, domestic, and family matters of Russian society. Piroshki ("little pies" in English) are baked or fried yeast-leavened, boat-shaped buns with a variety of fillings, and though they have been around for centuries, today they are considered a comfort food and common street food in Russian cuisine. They were present at and documented at feasts in medieval Kyiv, at tables of Vladimir the Great. The piroshki diaspora has even reached Japan, where a chef successfully patented the recipe in the 1950s until he was later found out for stealing the recipe, after making copious amounts of money, of course. These days, you can find piroshki in the Baltics, the Balkans, Japan, Korea, Finland, Greece, Iran, Ukraine, and all over Russia. In the late 19th century, piroshki found their way to North America with the surge in immigration among Russian Jews escaping religious persecution, and today there are specialty shops where you can purchase them. Though many various fillings are possible, this specific recipe aims to stick to the vegetables common in 16th-century Russia, when the Domostroi was written: cabbage and onion. See Max’s video on how to make this dish here or see the ingredients and process at the end of this post, sourced from his website.
As I usually do with Tasting History recipes, I halved everything (meaning I would end up with 10 piroshki). Otherwise, I stayed accurate to the recipe, only opting to use canola oil instead of poppyseed or olive oil.
After reading the recipe through, I noticed it was strange that the instructions for the filling came before the instructions for the dough, even though the dough takes longer to make due to the time it takes for the dough to rise. So, I decided to make the dough before the filling. I had a deadline of an event to attend later in the evening, so I needed to be as efficient with my time as possible! First measuring out my ingredients, I turned my attention to waking up the active dry yeast with some milk and sugar. Now, I have never used any kind of yeast before, so this was a bit of an adventure: my mom had bought me a jar of Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast a while ago, and the yet-unopened jar was a few days past its best-before date, but I wanted to try to use it anyways. I tried twice to activate it with some milk and sugar, even watching a few videos on Youtube about what it is supposed to look like, all to no avail. Then, after a helpful Youtuber mentioned it needs to be warm, I decided to lightly warm up the milk before adding it and then covering the bowl to keep it warm. This proved to work! However, it did take twice as long to foam up as it should have. Happy with my alive and foamy yeast, I added it to the big bowl of flour, salt, and sugar, then added in the heavy cream, milk, and two beaten eggs. Using my hands, I mixed it together until consistent, an altogether immensely sticky process. After squishing and kneading the sticky mass together for ten minutes, I was confused to see that my dough was not forming together, but only becoming stickier. Time for more help from Youtube: I got as much of the sticky dough off my hands as possible, washed them, then found a video giving tips on how to make my dough less sticky. The first method I tried was to dip my hands in water before kneading - this did not work. Next, I let the dough rest for a minute and added a little flour to my tabletop. This worked wonders, and I was finally able to knead the dough properly! After working the dough a bit, I slowly added melted butter to the dough, kneading it in little by little until it would no longer incorporate fully. Then, I coated my bowl with the remainder of the melted butter, put the dough inside, and covered it with a dish cloth to let it rise. Due to my time crunch, I decided to let it rise for only 1.5 hours, hoping it would double in size during that time.
While the dough was rising, I got started making the filling, first chopping and measuring out my ingredients. I also pre-heated the oven at this stage. I heated up the oil in a large pot, then added the diced onion, mixing to coat with the oil and sprinkling in the salt. Then, I added the chopped garlic, turned the heat to low, and threw in the cabbage on top. I set the lid on and left it to simmer and steam for half an hour, checking it once in a while to make sure it was still sizzling. After that, the cabbage was fully cooked, so I added in the butter and pepper, stirring to melt it in. Covering the pot again, I let it cook for 15 minutes, then stirred in the chopped fresh dill and took it off the heat. At this point, my time crunch was really impressing itself upon me, so I tried to cool the filling as fast as possible by sticking it in the freezer. Meanwhile, I removed the risen dough from its bowl to find it very soft and pillowy, twice its previous size - I was very happy with it, especially considering my earlier struggles! I used a bench scraper to divide the dough into 10 fairly equal portions. I took the filling out of the freezer to find that it was unfortunately still pretty warm, but my deadline for my event later was approaching, so I didn't have the luxury to wait until it had cooled all the way. I rolled out the dough portions one by one into large and fairly thin circles, spooned in the too-warm filling, and attempted to close each one as you would for pierogi. This worked okay: I had overfilled some of them, making it hard to close them up, and others had very thin dough for closing at the middle and thick dough on the ends, which would make for an uneven finished product. I also noticed that the warm filling was changing the consistency of the dough a bit, so I tried to work through this process quickly. I set 6 piroshki seam-side-down on a lined baking sheet, brushed on a thin coating of beaten egg from earlier, and put them in the oven. While they cooked, I made the last 4 piroshki, even trying out the little pierogi clamp my husband had gotten me for my birthday. Unfortunately, it didn't work, as my dough was too thin and the filling too warm - the piroshki broke when I opened the clamp again. So, I made the last 4 piroshki in the same way as the first batch and washed them with egg so they would be ready for the oven. After 18 minutes, the first batch of piroshki were an amazing golden brown! I took them out of the oven to let them cool and popped in the second batch, removing them as well after 18 minutes. The little buns smelled delightful, and I was so proud they looked so pretty despite all my struggles with the yeast and dough earlier!
My experience tasting it:
To serve the piroshki for a quick dinner with my husband before we had to leave for the event, I quickly fried up some Balkan ćevapčići (grilled, spiced beef mince that are in a sausage shape), since I thought that would accompany the piroshki nicely. I cut the piroshki in half to find that not only were they cooked through properly (win!), but I had also managed to roll the dough thin enough to have a fairly uniform and beautifully-even amount of bun surrounding the filling. I was very impressed! Biting in, they were warm and oozing on the inside with a pillowy bread crisped just right to eat as a hand pie on the outside. So convenient! Me being a massive fan of dill and also liking cabbage quite a bit, I enjoyed the taste of the filling, but felt it was just a bit under-flavoured in the spice department. It was still buttery, with a strong taste of dill, but it could have used a bit more salt, pepper, or another spice to complement the veggies inside. The texture, though, worked wonderfully with the more structured bun. The bun part was actually the tastier aspect, I thought. I could taste the buttery-ness and a bit of sweetness, but I was most impressed with the soft and airy texture of the bread, especially with its golden brown crisped casing. Interestingly enough, the piroshki became all the more delicious because they were paired with the strongly-spiced ćevapčići, and for each bite of piroshki, I followed with another bite of the meat, since it created an amazing combination when eaten together. While my husband and I really liked the piroshki, I will most definitely not make this recipe again: not only did it take me about 5 hours beginning to end, adding lots of stress to my day considering my lack of time before my later event, but there were so many parts of the process that did not work on the first try, causing me to panic-Google solutions to help me progress to the next step. Perhaps I will try another easier, more modern piroshki recipe in the future, though. I can imagine they would taste delicious with other interesting fillings like bacon, mushroom, or squash, and definitely with more spices. If you end up making this dish, if you liked it, or if you changed anything from the original recipe, do let me know!
Cabbage & Onion Piroshki original recipe (16th c.)
Sourced from the Domostroi (16th c.) and Max Miller’s version in his Tasting History video.
Small pies filled with mushrooms, poppy seeds, kasha, turnips, cabbage, or whatever else God sends.
When the servants bake bread, order them to set some of the dough aside, to be stuffed for piroshki.
Based on the Domostroi (16th c.) and Max Miller’s version in his Tasting History video.
1/4 cup (60 ml) oil, poppyseed oil was popular at the time, but olive oil works
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 medium head of cabbage, about 2 lbs (scant 1 kg), outer leaves and stalk removed and chopped into small pieces
2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped fine
1 packet (7 g) dry active yeast
1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten, divided
4 tablespoons (55 g) melted unsalted butter
For the filling: Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. When it shimmers, add in the onions and stir to coat them in oil. Stir in the salt and let the onion cook in an even layer for 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then reduce the heat to medium low. Make sure the onions and garlic are in an even layer, then add the cabbage over it, cover the pot with a lid, and let it cook for 30 minutes. Once in a while, lift the lid of the pot, and if you can’t hear any sizzling or bubbling, add either a little more oil or water.
After 30 minutes, the cabbage should be cooked. Stir in the butter and pepper, then cover and let it cook for another 15 minutes.
Stir in the dill. At this point, you can either take it off the heat and let it cool, or you can let it cook a little while longer until the cabbage caramelizes a bit. I prefer it this way as it adds a little extra sweetness and depth. Either way, when it’s done to your liking, put it in a bowl to cool a bit before putting it in the fridge to chill. The fridge isn’t necessary, but the piroshki will be easier to form if the filling is cold.
For the dough: In a small bowl, mix together about half of the milk, the yeast, and a pinch of the sugar. Set this aside for about 5 to 10 minutes to activate.
While the yeast works, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and remaining sugar. When the yeast mixture is nice and bubbly, add it to the flour along with the rest of the milk, the heavy cream, and 2 of the eggs (the third egg will be used as an egg wash in 10). Mix this all together until it forms a dough, then turn it out onto a work surface and knead it until it’s nice and smooth, about 10 minutes. The dough will be a bit sticky at first, but should come together quickly.
Now you'll work the butter in a little at a time. Dip your fingers into the melted butter and spread it over the dough, then knead it in. It should work in after just a few kneads, then continue to repeat the process to work the butter into the dough. As you work in more butter, it’ll take longer for it to incorporate. You may not need all of the butter, and you’ll know when to stop when it takes more than 30 seconds to knead the butter into the dough.
If you have leftover butter, use it to grease the inside of a bowl, then set the dough in it and cover. Let it rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
To form and bake: Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C).
After the dough has risen, gently deflate it, then divide it into 20 pieces, about 45 grams each. Bring the outsides of each piece into the center and pinch them together, then place the dough pinched side down and form a cage around it with your hand. Move your hand in a circular motion to help the dough form into a ball. Repeat with all of the dough pieces.
Take a dough ball and roll it out into a circle about 4 to 4 1/2 inches (10 to 11 1/2 cm) wide. It should be nice and thin. Place about a heaping tablespoon or 45 grams of the filling to the rolled out dough in a kind of oblong shape along the center. Fold the dough up around the filling and pinch to seal the edges of the dough together. To make sure it’s sealed, take the dough between the index fingers and thumbs of both hands right next to each other along the seam. Fold the dough so the two parts between your fingers overlap a little, making a pleat. Do this along the entire edge of the seam. If you’re having trouble with this, check out the video where you can see what I did. Place the shaped and filled dough seam side down on a lined baking sheet and shape the rest of the piroshki. When they’re all done, lightly brush the remaining beaten egg over the piroshki. You can use just egg, or mix in a splash of cream if you have some leftover.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they’re well browned. Take them out of the oven and let them cool a bit, but serve them forth warm.
