Cheemo Frozen Perogy
To food purists, the Cheemo frozen perogy is a foodstuff of an entirely different
colour. According to The New Food Lovers Companion, edited by Sharon Tyler Herbst, the correct
Russian name is pirozhki, a small turnover with a pastry wrapper surrounding meat, seafood, cheese,
and vegetable or fruit fillings. Pirogi are the larger versions of the dumpling, served as
an entrée.
The word perogy is actually Polish in origin. To be true to Ukrainian cookery,
the baked potato dumpling is called pyrohy, while boiled potato dumplings are better known as
varrennyky.
Nowhere in the Slavic cooking lexicon is a pizza perogy mentioned, and this particular
innovation belongs to Walter Makowecki and his Heritage Frozen Foods, the manufacturer of Cheemo.
Even the brand namethe Inuit word for Hello, correctly spelled Chimois an intriguing marketing
development that draws attention to the flash-frozen nature of this born-in-Edmonton foodstuff.
The companys plant in north Edmonton produces 8 million perogies weekly, and sells
to markets across Canada and the United Stateswith the occasional order going as far away as Saudi
Arabia. Heritage Frozen Foods claims to be the largest producer of perogies in the world.
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