When it comes to food, few things can evoke such feelings of comfort as dumplings – it almost seems to be something within our DNA.
For anyone questioning this, all one has to do is to look at how different and distant cultures all have their own individual version of a dumpling: Italians have ravioli, the Polish have pierogi, China has jiaozi, hundun, Turkey has manti, Japan has gyoza. For Russia, the dumpling of choice is the pelmeni, but it is far from being “just another dumpling.”
While we know that the word pelmeni comes from pel’n’an’, which, in the Komi and Udmurt languages, means “ear bread,” due to the shape of the cooked dough, how and when pelmeni became part of the Russian or Siberian diet is unknown. Though we may not know when, the reasons why these dumplings were adopted by Siberians and then Russians are very logical. Due to their size and the winter climate in Siberia, pelmeni freeze easily and store as well as transport well; moreover, during a harsh winter, making large amounts of pelmeni would “eliminate” the need for feeding livestock.
Not considering the well-known fact that everybody’s babushka makes the best pelmeni, there are still over 500 large-scale pelmeni factories in Russia which produce over 280,000 tons yearly for the $700 million industry.
Pelmeni can be as varied as Russia itself. Common fillings including meats like goose, pork, beef, lamb, veal, chicken, or, in Perm, a filling of mushroom, turnip, onion, and spices. When it comes to serving, pelmeni can be dressed with almost anything, from soya sauce and horseradish to vinegar, or the traditional sour cream or butter. The versatility may be apparent, but there are some firm rules with pelmeni: the dough must be thin; the filling is uncooked; and fillings are savoury only.
The first known use of the word in English occurs in a June, 1926 issue of Blackwood’s Magazine, where it is aptly stated that, “Without pelmeni no Siberian can be happy for long.” 1958’s The Home Book of Russian Cookery by George and Nina Froud adds the point that “Left-over pelmeni are delicious fried in a little butter.” Finally, seeking some sort of clarity 4 years later, in 1962, Kyra Petrovskaya wrote in Kyra’s Secrets of Russian Cooking that “The best, real way of preparing Siberian pelmeni is to use two kinds of meat for stuffing—beef and pork or veal and pork—and plenty of seasoning.” Whether you are a traditionalist or not, there’s a pelmen for you to enjoy- just ask any Russian!
