No. 357 - Pierogi Pocket

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning about Google's holiday doodle -- the fancy illustration that shows up on Google's homepage.

This year's holiday doodle debuted this morning. It showed 17 interactive portraits of holiday scenes from around the world. One of the scenes was a table of food. When you clicked on it, it took you to a page showing the search results for "pierogi."

Where I grew up in Pennsylvania, we ate pierogis regularly. In fact, one of the best known pierogi maker, Mrs. T's, was headquartered less than 15 miles away.

I learned that pierogi consumption in the United States is largely concentrated in a geographical region dubbed the "Pierogi Pocket", an area including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Chicago, parts of the northern Midwest and southern New England. This region accounts for 68 percent of annual U.S. pierogi consumption. Every July, in Indiana, there is Pierogi Fest and each year Mrs. T's names an annual pierogi capital of this region. The 2009 capital was Binghamton, NY.