If the Slavic kitchen had a comfort-food champion, it would be the dumpling. From Russian pelmeni to Ukrainian and Polish vareniki and pierogi, these little parcels of dough have fed families through long winters for generations.
Making them is a shared ritual: dough is rolled paper-thin, rounds are cut and filled with seasoned meat, potato, or tart cabbage, then folded and pinched shut around a whole table of helping hands. Boiled until they float and served with sour cream, melted butter, or fried onions, that first bite is pure warmth.
At the festival, our cooks shape and cook dumplings fresh on-site — come watch the pinching and pleating up close.
