As We Eat
As We Eat Podcast 🎧
EP 49: Dumplings Around the World: European Dumplings from Saints to Holy Justice in Just One Bite
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EP 49: Dumplings Around the World: European Dumplings from Saints to Holy Justice in Just One Bite

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

Khinkali, a Georgian dumpling, has up to 19 pleats!

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.

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European Dumpling Transcript

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Sources We Found Helpful for this Episode 

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As We Eat
As We Eat Podcast 🎧
Food lovers, Kim Baker and Leigh Olson, invite you on a storytelling journey exploring food memories, family recipes, food traditions, cuisines, cookery, and food history to discover how food connects, defines, and inspires us.