I have fond memories of my mom’s cooking, one of my favorites is her plum dumplings. It’s a very Eastern European dish.
She was born in Poland and was deported to Siberia in 1939 where she spent about 5 years. My father was from Vienna and when my parents got married in Venezuela he imported from Austria a cookbook with all the recipes he loved for my mom to prepare.
My mother used to make the Plum Dumplings as a very special dessert but I learned recently they can be a full meal as well.
I hadn’t had those plum dumplings for over 20 years. Last year I saw them on a menu in a restaurant in Prague. I was so excited I couldn’t believe they were the same thing, so I asked the waiter if the dough was made with potatoes and when he said yes, I ordered them right away!
We were having dinner that day with our friends Kathy and Phil. Kathy was raised in the East coast by her Russian grandparents. We literally started to cry when we tasted the dumplings because this wonderful dish reminded both of us of our childhood.
A traditional topping is breadcrumbs fried in butter. Imagine my mom used to add sweetened sour cream as another delicious topping. Yummy!
