Pierogis (Dumplings)

 
 
 

Vocabulary

port	resident	come back
snack	just like	cottage cheese
earn	dumpling	know/knew/known
thin	cottage	make/made/made
own	ordinary	come/came/come
fill	existence	traditional
bar (3)	delicate	mushroom
slightly	dignitary	teach/taught/taught
wage	delicious	all over (2)
trendy	flock (2)	eat/ate/eaten
taste	combine	combination
kind of	surprise	fashion (2)
dough	cuisine	sauerkraut
prefer	memory	bite/bit/bitten
alike

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

We’re in Szczecin, a port city in northwestern Poland, with four-hundred thousand (400,000) residents.

The Snack Bar: Pierogarnia Kaszubska

This snack bar has only been in existence for a year, but it’s already known all over town. People come here to eat pierogi, just like their mothers used to make.

Pierogi are traditional Polish dumplings that have come back into fashion.

The Owner

The owner, Marek Rogowski, makes the pierogi here himself. His mother taught him how when he was a child.

Marek Rogowski, Owner, Pierogarnia Kaszubska: “Traditionally, pierogi are filled with cottage cheese and potatoes, sauerkraut and mushrooms, spinach and cheese or meat.”

Just a few years ago, he cooked in a Polish hotel for visiting dignitaries, such as Helmut Kohl and Jacques Chirac.

Now he serves traditional cuisine for ordinary wage earners, starting at just two euros fifty (€2.50).

The Snack

Marek Rogowski, Owner, Pierogarnia Kaszubska: “Pierogi are trendy. But they are also our tradition. People here have always eaten them, and they’ll do so in the future. They taste delicious! Pierogi will always be in fashion.

Unfortunately, we don’t always have time to make them at home.”

And that’s why people flock to Pierogarnia Kaszubska: more than two-thousand (2,000) small dumplings are eaten here daily. Young and old alike love pierogi.

The Costumer

Customer, Male, one: “I’m fed up with kebabs and hotdogs. That’s why I much prefer to eat pierogi for lunch.”

Customer, Male, two: “This delicate combination of meat and thin delicate dough tastes fabulous. And they always taste slightly different everywhere, so it’s kind of a surprise.”

Childhood memories and a surprise. Pierogi combine both in a single bite.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

 

Questions

1. Szczecin is nestled in the Carpathian Mountains of southern Poland. Szczecin is located in the mountains. True or false?

2. Was the Piergarnia Kaszubska Restaurant founded by Marek Rogowski’s grandfather? Did Marek’s grandfather start the restaurant 65 years ago? Is the snack bar over fifty years old?

3. Marek spends most of his time in his office. Marek mostly works with a computer. Is this right or wrong?

4. Did he learn to make pierogis from a culinary academy (cooking school)?

5. Do all pierogis consist of ground meat fillings? Do all pierogis have ground meat inside?

6. Most of the customers of the Piergarnia Kaszubska Restaurant are rich and high-class. Is this correct or incorrect?

7. How is business at Marek’s restaurant? Is his business good, bad or in the middle?

8. Is this the first time customers have eaten pierogis?

 

A. Dumplings are a traditional food in my country. Yes or no? Are dumplings popular?

B. What are some varieties of dumplings and their fillings?

C. What are some popular restaurants in your city? What are some popular foods?

D. My friends and I would like to open a restaurant or snack bar. True or false?

E. What might happen in the future?