Varenyky

The story

Varenyky, filled dumplings similar to Polish pierogi, are stuffed in their Lenten Holy Supper version with potato, cabbage, or mushrooms instead of meat, and in some regions with sweet cherries as well, though that version is more often eaten outside the strict Christmas Eve fast. Making varenyky is almost always a family job: one person rolls out the dough, another fills and seals the edges, a third does the boiling, in a rhythm that has repeated for generations and that many Ukrainian families in the diaspora still practice together today, often with conversation or the retelling of family stories aloud while hands are busy. The half-moon shape and the way the edges are sealed (by hand or with a fork) differ from region to region, and many grandmothers claim they can tell “whose” varenyk it is just from the shape of the edge. They are served topped with onions briefly fried in oil. For Ukrainian American families, “varenyky-making day” before Christmas remains one of the most important gatherings of the whole extended family, sometimes more important than the supper itself.