Piroshky Piroshky, Seattle, Washington

For mothers day weekend, we took a trip to Seattle and had some great experiences.  We rode to the top of the Space Needle, visited the Ballard ship locks, and spent some time in the Pike Place Market.

Earlier this year we visited the Pike Place Market, where we discovered a little sidewalk shop (about 20 feet wide) containing a Russian Bakery: Piroshky Piroshky.  That first visit was on a Friday and we just waited inside the shop for two people ahead of us to order and then we shared a great apple cinnamon roll between the three of us.

For this trip, we were going to make it our lunch and have one of their Piroshky pies and a dessert.  We were very surprised to find a line of about 30 people ahead of us in a line that snaked from the front of the bakery around the sidewalk and back into the bowels of the building.  Fortunately, the line moved quickly.

Once inside we had trouble deciding what to order.  We really wanted to try some of each item on the menu.  I ordered a Smoked Mozzarella Broccoli and Mushroom Piroshky, and my wife had a Potato Onion and Mushroom Piroshky.  I almost ordered a Smoked Salmon Piroshky but I saw that it was salmon pate, while I’m sure it is authentic, but it was not what I was looking for.

We stepped out into the sunshine of the market and enjoyed our Piroshky’s.  I really enjoyed the smoked mozzarella, but it could have used a little more mozzarella and a little less broccoli for my taste.  I still enjoyed it thought.  My wife commented that she was a little disappointed in her selection as it was like eating mashed potatoes in a piecrust, she would have liked it to have a little more body and a few more mushrooms.

We had also ordered dessert: a Cinnamon Cardamon Braid and an Apple Cinnamon Roll.  I really enjoyed the Cinnamon Cardamon Braid.  In addition to cinnamon and cardamon, it also contained raisins, orange peel, and hazelnuts.  It had a light texture and was not overly spiced by any one ingredient so all the flavors were discernable.  The Apple Cinnamon Roll made with Granny Smith apples had a nice tartness to balance the sweetness of the roll.  This will always be one of our favorites.

It is interesting for me to go back and study my photos, I can see that in the case there were several types of meat Piroshky’s that we didn’t see because their little signs were pushed over and facing the floor by the trays of pies.  I think that I probably would have had a Bavarian Sausage Piroshky if I had seen that there were more types for sale in the case.  I guess that leaves something for me to try on my next adventure.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell