Whether served fried, steamed, or boiled, a dumpling filled with local ingredients feeds the mind with a taste of its history. As We Eat is embarking in a three-part series exploring the global cuisine of dumplings, and our second episode takes us over Silk Road trade routes into Europe where we explore the culinary impact of such European delights as ravioli, pierogi, Matzo balls, kreplach, and floaters
The Perfect Bite
One dumpling tells many stories - its ingredients tell stories about the people that it nurtures and the techniques of its making helps recall special times and places. Each dumpling itself is a sort of “perfect bite” showcasing a world of flavor encapsulated within a pillowy cloud of dough.
As we continue our three-part journey into the global culinary phenomenon of dumplings, Leigh and Kim share the history and culture behind some of the world’s favorite dumplings to unveil some of the rhyme and reason behind their popularity and prominent place on our plates.
Our dumpling journey finds Leigh and Kim in Europe, where Kim explores ravioli and how the familiar squares filled the plates of not only Italians from Rome and Venice but also found its culinary path to southern France and Cyprus. A near cousin to ravioli is the popular Polish pierogi which may have been the basis of a miracle performed by St. Hyacinth of Poland. Not only did this delicious morsel feed all classes of Polish people, but it made its way across the Atlantic and made a major impact in North American culture.
We next embark on a voyage of discovery into another global dumpling favorite - the cherished Matzo ball which along with the related kreplach dumpling brings a wealth of symbolism as well as good food to feast tables. Like other Jewish foods and food traditions, both Matzo and kreplach speak to the forces of light and darkness and the trials faced by its people, and both offer lessons in history and the power of endurance. We wrap up this exploration with the British “floater” dumpling that (spoiler alert) is another tasty morsel that travels across the ocean as a powerful influence in American cuisine.
European Dumpling Transcript
🎧 Click here for the full, interactive transcript of this episode 🎧
Sources We Found Helpful for this Episode
Books We Think You’ll Enjoy Reading
Dumplings for Beginners: 50 Recipes and Simple Step-by-Step Lessons to
Make Your Favorite Dumplings by Terri Dien
The Dumpling Galaxy Cookbook by Helen You and Max Falkowitz
Matzo: 35 Recipes for Passover and All Year Long: A Cookbook
Recipes You Really Need to Try
Episodes We Think You’ll Like
EP 3: Comfort Food: From Consumer Psychology to Naughty Foods
EP 17: Passover: Deliverance, Bitter Herbs, and Maxwell House Coffee
Ep 48: Dumplings Around the World: Pan Asian Dumplings from Chinese Medicine to Dim Sum
Join us in two weeks for the third and last installment of our dumpling series. If you’re enjoying the podcast, we would love to have you join our supporting subscribers. For just a few dollars, you can get access to exclusive content, including the Dish-covery explorations, more in-depth articles, and recipes. You’ll also help keep our oven lights on!
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