Briar Patch to host virtual pierogi party
Gracie Schatz, a former intern from Sierra Harvest’s Food Love Farm, will teach the fundamentals of making delicious homemade pierogi during an online class with BriarPatch Food Co-op.
Schatz, the founder of Heart of Willamette Cooking School will teach this virtual class, “Pierogi Party” on Wednesday, April 21, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Co-op owners will receive $5 credit toward the purchase of class ingredients. An ingredient shopping list and recipes will be sent out one week before the class.
Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water. Pierogi are most often associated with the cuisine of Central and Eastern European nations.
“These are exciting to me because they’re the dumplings of my heritage,” said Schatz.
The class menu includes recipes for Classic Potato and Dill Pierogi, Wild Mushroom and Cheese Pierogi with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream for Garnishing.
There is something about this rustic fare that is both comforting and adventurous to homecooks and Schatz’s classes are so popular they always sell out. Like other “peasant” foods from around the globe, pierogi was not made to be fancy. Instead, the dish was made from necessity using common ingredients on hand.
Gracie’s cooking career began at the University of Oregon Urban Farm where she learned to grow and cook organic vegetables.
“It was just breathtaking to me that such simple food could be so delicious,” she said.
Since then, she has been absorbed in all things delicious — from spending time in Italy learning to raise pigs, making cheese, wine and rustic Tuscan food to cooking in restaurant kitchens, managing a butcher shop in her native San Francisco and interning at Sierra Harvest’s Food Love Farm in Nevada City.
Schatz now resides in the Willamette Valley, Oregon where she runs her cooking school. Through her classes she hopes to connect the community to their food, empower a new generation of chefs, help people from all cultures to preserve and share their flavors and traditions while providing a safe space where all people can feel nourished and inspired.
“When I started teaching it just felt so right because I got to see people enjoy the food,” said Schatz. “I love this. It’s totally my jam. It makes me really happy.”
Learn more about Heart of Willamette Cooking School: https://howcookingschool.com/
Learn more about BriarPatch: https://www.briarpatch.coop/
Source: Briar Patch Co-op
