66

A. Varesano interviewing Anna Timko
-11-
6/23/72
Tape 16-2

485 you had to clean it.

AV: What did you use that cabbage for?

AT: All purposes. It was for cooking, for frying, for, if you're baking, if you
want to make something good, that's all kinds of purposes.

AV: What kind of recipes would you use?

AT: Oh, we didn't have recipes, it was just a put-together, that about all!
I used to like it, too, if, like when I would fry pork you know. And when
the pork was done, and then take out the pork, and into that grease with the
onions in it, you know, that the pork was cooking, frying, in it, and you put
the sauerkraut in there and fry it. That was delicious. Oh, it had a wonderul
flavor! That was very good. I used to like it that way.

AV: What did you call that, anything?

AT: Oh, just sauerkraut, that's all. Fried sauerkraut!

AV: And you said you baked with it. What did you do?

AT: I do now yet, too! I guess, when was it I was baking, about two weeks ago I
guess, well you could make most anything out of it, you know. What I make
are like three-corners. I let the dough rise, and then I roll it out, and I
cut it in squares. And I fry some onions with butter, and I put that sauer-
kraut in - I chop it a little, because you know sauerkraut is long, so for
this purpose it wouldn't be good, so I chop it a little bit - and then I fry
it, well, stew it rather, I should say, not fry it. And then cool it, and
put it in each square a little bit, and then fold it like a three-corner. You
know? It's a square, well, instead of putting it double this way you fold it
from corner to corner, so it's just three corners on it then. Then I bake
them in the oven, not ina pan, just like that, becausse, see, in gas or elec-
tric stove you couldn't do that, because there's flame there, but these coal
stove you can do that. So I just put them inthe oven, and I bake them, and
when they're done on both sides, top and bottom, I have butter ready, and as
I'm taking them out - because they all don't get done at the same time, you
see, the ones closer to the fire they get done first, then the other ones are
back, so I have to move them up closer - so I have butter ready, and a brush,
a pastry brush, and I butter them, as soon as I take them out I'll be butter-
ing each one, on both sides. They're delicious, if you like sauerkraut.

AV: That sounds really good! And what did you call them? Did you have a Slavic
name for them?

AT: Oh, yes, call them pierogies But you, pierogies, the regular prune[?]
that you make, you know, out of other dough, well, you get them mixed up with
515 this, because very few people do this from the bread dough. So I guess they
would think of the other one first thing. Well, you could use it for the
other ones, too, you know, like what you make the regular dough for the
pierogies, you could use sauerkraut in that, but I don't think too many
people use sauerkraut in that.

AV: How big are the squares?

AT: Well, it depends how big you want to make them. I make mine pretty big,
because it's too much trouble. The dough is pretty thick, you know. Well, then,
even it I cut them in small, maybe, say, about three inches or so, square, and
then when I have the sauerkraut in it, and I fold them togethere and close both
ends, tighten them, well, I squeeze it and flatten it a little bit, so it gets
maybe that big then, I guess about three and a half-four inches big it
gets them. But if I let it go, well it wouldn't be that, it would be thicker.
And this way, it's thinner and it's bigger.

AV: Do you let it raise a little bit after you put inthe filling?

AT: Oh, yes. When I put the cabbage in it I let it raise, about an hour or so.
And then I put it in, well, it depends, because, see I'd be baking other things.