Historical origin of a food regionfrom @jajupierogi

Transcript

Happy National Pierogi Day. Today, we're gonna talk about the pierogi pocket. They say that two thirds of the pierogi in The United States are consumed within the pierogi pocket, which extends from New Jersey and New York through Upstate Pennsylvania, Ohio, and up and through Michigan and Illinois to Chicago, the capital of the Pierogi Pocket. But how did this Pierogi pocket come to be? Why here? Well, it's all tied back to where Polish immigrants landed when they came to America. The first major wave of Polish immigration began in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. These immigrants came seeking economic prosperity. Of course, more Polish immigrants came during the destruction of World War II. Polish immigrants took some of the most grueling jobs, often working eighty four hours a week in places like steel and tin mills, mines, glass furnaces, and factories. And where was this work found? It was found in... Around a lot of the industrial centers that we find in today's pierogi pocket, like New York City, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago. They created these communities called Polonia, based around the Catholic parish. These communities celebrated Polish traditions, holidays, and good. Especially after World War two, these Polish church communities would get together and make thousands and thousands of pierogi, and they would sell them as a fundraiser. And that is how the love for pierogi spread beyond the Polish families, tier Polish households, and those communities. That is how our pierogi pocket came to be. And if someone you know says that they bought pierogi in a ziplock bag from a church basement, they weren't lying. Of course, we are always trying to expand that pierogi pocket to other parts of The United States.