Bierock

Bierock
TypeSavory bread roll
Place of originEastern Europe
Main ingredientsYeast dough, cabbage, onion, ground beef, seasonings
VariationsCheese

Bierock is a yeast dough pastry pocket sandwich with savory filling,[1] originating in Eastern Europe.[2][3][4]

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.[5] It has developed strong cultural associations with the cuisine of the Midwestern United States, particularly in Kansas and Nebraska.[4]

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][6][3][7] However, a recent theory speculates that the word bierock may be derived from börek.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jakle, J.A.; Sculle, K.A. (2002). Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age. The road and American culture. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-8018-6920-4. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Timothy J. Kloberdanz (1988). "Symbols of German-Russian Ethnic Identity on the Northern Plains". Great Plains Quarterly. 8 (1). Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln: 13. JSTOR 23530738.
  3. ^ a b Bordsen, John (December 27, 2016). "Sandwich That Stems from Eastern Europe Powers Great Plains Chain". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Motz, George; Zimmern, Andrew; Brearton, Kristoffer; Young, Douglas (2016). The great American burger book: how to make authentic regional hamburgers at home. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. ISBN 978-1-61769-182-9. OCLC 921863985.
  5. ^ Rees, Amanda (2004). The Great Plains region. Greenwood encyclopedia of American regional cultures. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 253. ISBN 0-313-32733-5.
  6. ^ Timothy J. Kloberdanz; Rosalinda Kloberdanz (1993). Thunder on the Steppe: Volga German Folklife in a Changing Russia. American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. ISBN 9780914222255.
  7. ^ Andrew F. Smith (2007). The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Oxford University Press. p. 48. ISBN 9780195307962.
  8. ^ "You Say Purek, I Say Beerock". Los Angeles Times. 25 June 1997. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Turkic words in Russian". Languages Of The World. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  10. ^ Secretary of Tourism of Argentina