Polack Fest '06

A couple weekends ago I headed down to Edgerton for Polack Fest '06 (Summer Edition). It had been a while since The Polack and I had done a PF. For those unfamiliar, a PF is when I go to The Polack's place and we make pierogi (a Polish dumpling) and drink a lot. His son, JZ, wasn't there which made it the first time in 10 years or so that he wasn't around for a PF. JZ is 18 and this is the summer before he starts college so he's out having fun and I can't blame him. But he's been to several of them and he's got the Polish family tradition down. As The Polack said at one point, "He knows how to make pierogi now – he'd better be making them for me when I'm old." I can't remember the first PF – must have been 1995 or '96. I think it was the year that both he and I spent Xmas here in town so we decided to get together and indulge our Polish heritage. He chewed me a new asshole for arriving late as he was waiting for me to show up to start drinking and I didn't get there until after noon.

I brought some Ja?owcowa with me (That's Juniper Berry Smoked Sausage.) as well as some Polish beer, both of which I bought in Chicago a week previously when I was down there for my grandmother's 91st birthday. To start things off, The Polack poured bourbon & sour for himself while I shared a bottle of the beer with his father, Mr. Z.





The brew was a pilsner and pretty tasty. We Poles are a vodka people so next time I'll have to remember to get a bottle of the good stuff. Still, it was Polish and quite refreshing.

This time around, The Polack had made four fillings instead of the usual three. Normally we do beef, potato & cheese, and kraut, bacon, & sour cream but we added chicken, onion, & mushroom to the list. In addition to the extra filling, we decided to go balls-out and increase our production. In the past, we hammer out 5 or 6 dozen but this time around more flour got dumped onto the table and there was enough dough for about 130. That's a lotta goddamn pierogi! The Polack took dough chores which I didn't mind because kneading is a chore.





Although it's a lot of work, I love making pierogi and cooking in general. There's just something about seeing a dish come together. From a pile of flour to the finished product, it's a joy to see each step along the way come to fruition. We sip cocktails and bullshit. Polack Fest isn't only about eating, it's about socializing and partaking of tradition. We even used The Polack's grandmother's grinder to grind the beef. At first, he pulled out a newer one but it didn't work too well as the blades needed sharpening. The meat came out in nice small piece but it was a pain in the ass to turn the handle. And so he pulled out the old family grinder. It was duller and the meat came out minced and mushy but it was a lot less work. The lesson here is not to fuck with tradition. The Polack rolled out the dough and we started filling.



Just look at that stuff – oh mama!





Once we were done, we had a whole lotta pierogi.



With that being done, it was time to pop open the next beer.



As we waited for the water to boil, The Polack pulled out this nice old tray.



His family is from Milwaukee originally and you can bet your sweet ass that Mr. Z drank a lot of Miller in his time.

Next, we boiled all 130+ precious, tender pierogi.





Oh man! Just look at them steaming! I can't taste them as I type. Now, one needn't fry them but we do. And we always have plenty of greeze on hand. There was the leftover bacon grease as well as more than enough shortening. Sure, it's not exactly healthy but, again, we don't wanna tinker with tradition here. Our grandparents probably fried them in lard they rendered themselves so at least we're a bit more health-conscious than they were.





My heart is palpitating just looking at these pictures. The Polack doesn't have an exhaust fan so we went outside to use the side burner on the grill as well as the main flames for the sausage.







By the time we were done, Mr. Z had passed out and we had enough to feed a whole army.



Let me tell you, it was really, really good! We ate our fill but we still had well over 100 to put away at the end of the night and I went home the next morning with lots of pierogi. The next PF will probably be in early or mid-December as we usually do it so we have pierogi for Christmas. I bring some down to Chicago where they are, unfortunately, considered a real treat amongst my family. It's a shame that most of my family has stopped cooking. Sure, there's the odd bit here or there but anything labor-intensive is long gone. Either they can't physically do it anymore or are just not inclined to do so. Ergo the fruits of my labors are welcomed with arms open. It must be quite a sight for my grandmother to see her youngest grandchild making pierogi. I'm the only one of us three that has any interest in our Polish heritage and I know she appreciates that.