Closely related to pasta, the word “dumpling” first appeared in print around the 17th century. In her culinary dictionary, The New Food Lover’s Companion, Sharon Tyler Herbst says savory dumplings are “small or large mounds of dough that are usually dropped into a liquid mixture such as soup or stew,” and dessert dumplings “most often consist of a fruit mixture encased in a sweet pastry dough and baked.” No matter which culture they come from, dumplings feature some kind of dough-based wrapper and a filling.
Legend has it that Chinese physician Zhang Zhongjing invented dumplings during the first century A.D. Chinese cuisine features several different types of dumplings, including baozi or bao—a steamed bun filled with meat or vegetarian filling, served for any meal, including breakfast. The Chinese have made jiaozi for at least 500 years—a flatter version of a wonton with a thicker skin, and generally served with dipping sauce. Koreans eat a similar dish, called mandu. Gyoza “pot stickers” also have roots in Chinese cuisine, but frequently appear on Japanese menus too.
Bierocks likely originated with Lutheran and Catholic culture in Germany, says Becky Roberson, owner of B & R Bierocks, Inc., in St. Francis, Kan., a town of 1,500 residents located approximately three hours from Denver. “[Germans were] forced into Russia and then moved [to the U.S.]. My family was Catholic Germans.”
The doughy exterior of classic bierocks surrounds a filling of ground meat, shredded cabbage and minced onion for a complete meal. Weighing in at about five and a half ounces, Roberson’s bierocks are shipped frozen and can be heated in a microwave within minutes. They are four inches in diameter and up to one and a half inches tall. Roberson and her crew of nine women handcraft 75 to 100 dozen per day.
Found in Kansas, North Dakota, northwest Oklahoma, California, Utah, Montana and Wyoming, bierocks are similar to the pierogi (also known as perogy, piroshke and pyrohy) which most Americans consider Polish in origin. Typically made in a flat semicircle or square of unleavened dough, and filled with cheese, meat, fish, mushrooms, or a fruit filling, pierogi are rolled flat and cut and then folded to form a half circular or square pocket. They are often served with butter or sour cream. These Eastern European dumplings were likely developed from the 1500s to the 1700s and then arrived in the United States during the late 1800s to early 1900s.
Kazansky’s Delicatessen, in Pittsburgh, Pa., sells kreplach—a Jewish form of dumpling—along with many other Jewish menu options. The small dumplings at Kazansky’s are filled with ground seasoned brisket trimmings, and onion—sometimes with a touch of ground pastrami—and then served in chicken soup.
Co-owner, Paul Kraus, says the three corners of kreplach pay homage to the Hebrew patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. His Jewish customers often order the homey dish when they are “homesick for grandma’s cooking. They’re paper-thin outer dough with a burst of flavor inside.” Sometimes called Jewish wontons, they are similar to Italian ravioli.
Italian dumplings include ravioli, gnocchi and tortellini—bite-sized pasta that are most often stuffed with pork, chicken, ham, proscuitto or Parmesan and then served in broth. Larger tortellonis envelop vegetable and cheese fillings.
“The filling is very personal, “ says Fabio Salvatore, executive chef at Washington, D.C.’s renowned Café Milano. He uses durum and all-purpose flour combined with whole eggs, salt, and olive oil to make his dough for Tortelloni Valentino. The pasta is crown shaped, stuffed with braised baby artichokes, ricotta, eggs, marjoram, salt, and pepper, and topped with a fresh sauce of olive oil, garlic, rock shrimp, herbs, and tomato con casse—skinless, seedless tomatoes.
Other forms of dumplings include Finnish Karelian pastries (made with a thin rye crust and a rice, carrot or potato filling), South American empanadas (filled with seafood, meat, cheese, vegetables or fruit) and Southeast Asian sweet or savory samosas. No matter where you travel, you’ll likely find some version of dumplings. Whether savory or sweet, swimming in broth or bathing in sauce, one thing remains the same—dough has become a vehicle to deliver great flavor.
Ingredients For Pasta Dough:
100 g durum semolina flour
100 g all purpose flour
3 eggs
Pinch salt
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
60 g water (to make dough softer for shaping)
DIRECTIONS:
Combine flours in mixer with dough hook. Add eggs and olive oil and start mixer. Add salt and continue mixing until dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Refrigerate dough, well wrapped, until you are ready to use it.
Ingredients For The Filling:
Extra virgin olive oil
100 g baby artichokes, trimmed
2 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
1 shallot, minced
1 cup white wine
2 lemons, cut in half
30 g fresh marjoram, tied in a bunch
with string
50 g cow’s milk ricotta cheese
1 egg yolk
To finish the dish Chef Fabio creates a sauce of: garlic, peeled and deveined rock shrimp, blanched, peeled, and seeded plum tomatoes, fresh marjoram, if desired, and salt and pepper.
DIRECTIONS:
heat a little olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add baby artichokes with whole garlic and shallots. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté for a few minutes, and then add white wine. If necessary, add water to just cover artichokes. Bring to boil. Add lemons and marjoram. Simmer until artichokes are tender, adding water as needed to keep artichokes covered. When the artichokes are cool, discard lemons, marjoram and garlic. using a food processor with a blade, blend half of the artichokes with the ricotta. Roughly chop the remaining artichokes and stir into ricotta mixture. Stir in the egg yolk and adjust seasoning if necessary. Roll dough out using a pasta machine, starting at thickest setting and folding and re-rolling until dough is quite smooth.
Gradually reduce machine settings and roll dough out to thinnest setting. lay dough out on lightly floured surface and cut 4” squares using a fluted pastry wheel. Brush the edges of each square with egg wash. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each square. Fold dough over so the bottom and top edges are even and press to seal sides and top. Fold (fluted) edge towards you, over the filled side. Put a bit of egg wash at one end of the first fold. Pull the other end of that fold around and stick it to the egg wash, pressing the two ends together firmly so the pasta at the join is thin and will cook without opening or remaining raw. Trim away unfilled pasta. Freeze or refrigerate tortelloni, in a single layer, on a sheet pan sprinkled with semolina to prevent sticking. Once frozen, pack in airtight containers for longer storage. To cook, drop defrosted pasta into salted, boiling water, return to a boil and cook 2-3 minutes, until well cooked and with no more flour taste.