by Eric Miller
On the west coast, the availability of many Eastern European specialties is limited to a box of frozen pierogies. Making them is almost as bad. If you think it's just dough wrapped around potatoes, your tranquility will be altered by the effort it takes and mess it makes to create just a few of these tempting treats. While the frozen pierogies are better than none, a trip to Cleveland's West Side Market may spoil your taste for much else.
There aren't many markets like this left, and they're all in the East. Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia and Lexington Market in Baltimore are places where local merchants set up and sell everything from fresh produce to sausages, coffee, cheese, baked goods and yes, pierogies.
Of all those lucky to live in close proximity to one of these great markets, those in the Cleveland neighborhood of Ohio City are the most fortunate. They, after all, can have access to enough varieties of pierogie to eat them for two years without repeating a meal.
While there are some varieties of prepared food at the West Side Market, most of the merchants told us that only those with a restaurant license could sell prepared food. One merchant assured us a pierogie was entirely edible without cooking, though it would surely taste better cooked.
There are many ways to cook a pierogie, and even more varieties of pierogie. They can be steamed, sautéed, deep fried, or microwaved. (You may think of a peirogie as a ravioli of sorts, but please, a pierogie should not be boiled.)
While the person at the Pierogie Palace stand in the market told me she could not sell a heated pierogie, she would give me one. I tried a Sun Dried Tomato pierogie microwaved for just one minute. Most of the pierogies I have had ventured no further than potato and cheese or sour kraut. This was just one of the pleasant diversions I was to taste.
I took some blue cheese, sweet potato, and red cabbage pierogies home to microwave later. There are many others left to try on future trips to Cleveland. These include Philly Cheesesteak, Spicy Sesame Chicken, Pistachio, Rueben, and Smoked Eggplant. There are also dessert pierogies, including Apple Rum Cheesecake, Blueberry, and Cherry Almond Creme.
If this has tempted your palate almost enough to get you to hop on a flight to Cleveland…fear not, the Pierogie Palace claims to have a sizable delivery business. Orders can be placed online at www.westsidemarket.com. The cost of a pierogie in the market is 75 cents.
While my mind was fixed on pierogie, I couldn't help but notice the great variety of other food in the market. Sausages, baked goods, gyros, and noodle salads provide a sampling of the prepared food that is available. A corner park across the street allows for convenient outdoor seating, as does a perch on a platform above the market.
And if you can somehow avoid the temptation of all this food and fare, the market house building itself is enough reason to visit. It is a beautifully arched brick building with a graceful clock tower hovering above this lively neighborhood. There aren't many opportunities in the United States to visit such a place, still serving its original purpose after a century.
Oh, and if you'd like a beer with your pierogie, the adjacent Great lakes Brewery has pierogie on the menu.