All photos by Kelly Hotte.
You always remember your first perogie.
For me, it was during my high school days. A plateful of lovely stuffed dumplings was placed before me by my Polish friend’s mother.
“You will never find a better perogie.” she said proudly as she watched me chomp away in delight.
I’ve had many fine perogies through the years. None quite matched that wonderful initial plate. What I took as a challenge by my friend’s mother to find a better perogie has continued through the years.
Imagine my delight upon discovering Perogies, the family operated shop that CBC Radio One listeners voted “the #1 all time best perogies place in Ottawa”.
Tucked behind Ikea, at 1129 Baxter Road, the bright storefront invites you to ”Enjoy! Bon Appétite!”
It was there that I met Diana Riabko who told me of her family, the business, and perogies. The family emigrated to Canada from the Ukraine in 2003.
“My parents brought us to Canada to give us a better life. To give us a better education.”
They quickly became involved in the community, mainly through their church.
“Whenever there were events, we would volunteer to make perogies. They were so popular. They were always gone right away.”
The positive feedback from the community continued.
“People kept saying that we should sell our perogies. We should open a business.”
So in November 2007, Mr and Mrs Riabko and their five daughters opened Perogies.
“The business was started because of the demand, but also to help us get that education and better life that my parents wanted for us.”
While the original menu was based on the Riabko family’s recipes, customer requests were taken into account.
“People would tell us about dishes that their grandmother and mother made. We would try to incorporate these if possible. We wanted to keep our customers happy.”
I asked Diana if perogie recipes differ regionally in the Ukraine.
“The difference is in the filling. And it is not a regional difference, more a difference by country. For people in the Ukraine, the filling is usually potato based. In Poland, there are more sauerkraut filings. And in Russia, it’s meat.”
Today, the shop offers “home-made, fresh and healthy traditional Ukrainian food” which includes cabbage rolls, borsht (a beet-based soup), pirojki (buns with fillings), and crepes.
Specialized holiday dishes are also available by special order, such as cozonac (a Christmas-favourite sweet bread), paska (an Easter bread) and kolach (a type of pastry that holds a dollop of fruit).
“Everything is made by hand using local ingredients. The dough is egg and dairy-free, and no preservatives are used. There are vegetarian and vegan filling options also”, Diana said.
I asked her which were the most popular perogies.
“Potato and cheddar cheese is definitely the most popular. Potato and bacon is the next most popular. We’ve taken these two and now offer a potato, cheddar cheese and bacon perogie.”
As well as warm take-out items, frozen borsht, cabbage rolls and perogies are available.
The perogies are available in both raw and cooked frozen formats.
Diana explained that many people buy the raw version because they are smaller in size. “You can use them as an appetizer or as a side dish. Some people use them in their children’s school lunches. They are very easy to cook.”
The cooked frozen perogies can be defrosted and can be fried, microwaved, oven-warmed, even barbecued. The raw frozen need only be dropped into rapidly boiling, salted water.
“There are full cooking instructions on the packages, but we’re very happy to answer any questions that our customers may have. We want them to enjoy our perogies as much as we do.”
And what do you usually drink with perogies?
“There is no one beverage. We serve soft drinks, but many people like to sit down with a big plate of our perogies and a beer.”
With that, I thanked Diana, bought a bag of sauerkraut and mushroom perogies, and one of potato and mushroom, and headed to my favourite craft beer shop.
As I did, I could hear my friend’s mother’s words. I was certain that the challenge had come to an end.
