{{Short description|Beef-filled pastry}} {{Infobox food | name = Bierock | image = Bierrock.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = | alternate_name = | country = Eastern Europe | region = | creator = | course = Main | type = Stuffed Bread | served = | main_ingredient = Yeast dough, cabbage, onion, ground beef, seasonings | variations = Cheese | calories = | other = }}
'''Bierock''' is a yeast dough pocket sandwich with savory filling,<ref name="Jakle Sculle 2002"/> originating in Eastern Europe.<ref name="Kloberdanz1">{{cite journal | author = Timothy J. Kloberdanz | title = Symbols of German-Russian Ethnic Identity on the Northern Plains | journal = Great Plains Quarterly | volume = 8 | page = 13 | publisher = Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln | date = 1988 | issue = 1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=M3MvAQAAMAAJ&q=%22bierock%22+%22pirog%22 | jstor = 23530738}}</ref><ref name="chicago_tribune">{{cite news |first=John |last=Bordsen |date=December 27, 2016 |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/travel/ct-runza-restaurant-nebraska-travel-0108-20161223-story.html |title=Sandwich That Stems from Eastern Europe Powers Great Plains Chain |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=March 15, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Motz-2016">{{Cite book |last=Motz |first=George |author-link=George Motz |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/921863985 |title=The great American burger book: how to make authentic regional hamburgers at home |last2=Zimmern |first2=Andrew |author-link2=Andrew Zimmern |last3=Brearton |first3=Kristoffer |last4=Young |first4=Douglas |date=2016 |publisher=Stewart, Tabori & Chang |isbn=978-1-61769-182-9 |location=New York |oclc=921863985}}</ref>
The dish is common among the Volga German community in the United States and Argentina. It was brought to the United States in the 1870s by German Russian Mennonite immigrants.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Great Plains region |last=Rees |first=Amanda |series=Greenwood encyclopedia of American regional cultures |year=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=0-313-32733-5 |page=253 }}</ref> It has developed strong cultural associations with the cuisine of the Midwestern United States, particularly in Kansas and Nebraska.<ref name="Motz-2016" />
The soft yeast rolls contain some sugar, butter and eggs, and either warm water, milk, or a mix of both. The filling is a basic mix of onion, ground beef and cabbage<ref name="Jakle Sculle 2002"/> which can be made more complicated by the addition of different cheese blends, condiments and seasonings like caraway seeds.
{{anchor|etymology}}Bierock is similar to both pirogi/pirozhki of Russian cuisine and börek of Turkish cuisine. There is debate about the actual etymology of the word ''bierock''. Traditionally it was supposed that ''bierock'' was derived from the Russian word ''pirog''.<ref name="Kloberdanz1"/><ref name="Kloberdanz2">{{cite book | author1 = Timothy J. Kloberdanz | author2 = Rosalinda Kloberdanz | title = Thunder on the Steppe: Volga German Folklife in a Changing Russia | publisher = American Historical Society of Germans from Russia | date = 1993 | isbn = 9780914222255 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4rvWAAAAMAAJ&q=%22bierock%22+%22pirog%22}}</ref><ref name="chicago_tribune"/><ref>{{cite book | author = Andrew F. Smith | title = The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink | page = 48 | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 2007 | isbn = 9780195307962 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AoWlCmNDA3QC&q=bierock+pirog&pg=PA48}}</ref> However, a recent theory speculates that the word ''bierock'' may be derived from ''börek''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-25-fo-6599-story.html|title=You Say Purek, I Say Beerock|work=Los Angeles Times|date=25 June 1997 |access-date=27 May 2016}}</ref> This theory is based on both geographic close proximity of the former Volga German ASSR to present day Kazakhstan as well as the influence of considerable population of historically Turkic speaking peoples such as Kazakhs and Tatars living in the Volga region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.languagesoftheworld.info/historical-linguistics/turkic-words-in-russian.html|title=Turkic words in Russian|work=Languages Of The World|date=14 February 2011 |access-date=27 May 2016}}</ref> Neither theory, however, has been conclusively proven.
Other spellings are ''bieroch'', ''beerock'', ''berrock'', ''bierox'', ''beerrock'', ''biddicks'', and ''kraut bierock'' in the U.S, and ''pirok'' or ''kraut pirok'' in Argentina.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}
In Argentina, the ''Fiesta del Pirok'' (Bierock Festival) takes place every July, in Crespo, Entre Ríos Province.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120629155301/http://www.turismo.gov.ar/esp/calend/rcalend.asp?Meses=7&Pcia=Entre+R%EDos Secretary of Tourism of Argentina]</ref>
==See also== {{portal|Food}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Fleischkuekle * Hot Pockets * Pasty * Pierogi * Runza * Vol-au-vent * List of pastries * List of sandwiches {{div col end}}
==References== <references> <ref name="Jakle Sculle 2002">{{cite book | last1=Jakle | first1=J.A. | last2=Sculle | first2=K.A. | title=Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | series=The road and American culture | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-8018-6920-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nYcgnWKWXgC&pg=PA176 | access-date=May 27, 2016 | page=176}}</ref> </references>
==External links== * [http://www.plainsfolk.com/recipe/bierock.htm Typical recipe for bierocks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416055107/http://www.plainsfolk.com/recipe/bierock.htm |date=2009-04-16 }}
{{Pastries}}
Category:American breads Category:Argentine sandwiches Category:German-American cuisine Category:German-Argentine culture Category:German-Russian culture in the United States Category:Russian cuisine Category:Russian Mennonite diaspora Category:Volga German diaspora