Drive-thru dumplings: Baba's Homestyle Perogies pinches 12,000 daily to prepare for holiday rush

When the holiday season comes calling, one particular potato dumpling becomes an important fixture on many dinner tables: perogies. 

That's certainly the case at Baba's Homestyle Perogies, where they are hand-pinched at a rate of 12,000 per day during the holiday season — up from the usual 5,000 to 8,000. 

"We never stop making perogies. We're making them every day," said Baba's owner Rob Engel. "Cabbage rolls pick up as well. We do maybe 3,000 a day normally, and at this time of year, we do closer to 5,000 a day. So it's really busy, and we can't let up. The demand gets high at Christmas time."

Located at 720B 51st St., Baba's opened in 1984. Rob, his wife Chelsea and their family have owned it since 2006, and carry on the hand-pinched perogie tradition. 

"It's grown over the years from what started in a Baba's kitchen, to 20 people working full time, pinching perogies all day, every day, Engel said."

Pinching perogies isn't the only all-day, every-day job at Baba's. There's also the perogie drive-thru. The window has become an iconic piece of the restaurant's identity. It's especially popular with lunchtime customers looking to enjoy a filling, homemade meal in the comfort of their car. 

Engel says Baba's is currently the only perogie drive-thru he knows of in Canada.

"It's such a great concept," he said. "I can't say there's a slow time for the drive-thru — it's always busy."

The perogie recipe at Baba's hasn't changed. The dough consists of flour, water, oil and salt — staples that Engel says lay the foundation for a stand-out perogie.

"There's been some tweaking, but you don't need to mess with a perogie recipe. The ingredients are basic, and that's part of what makes us special," he said. "You can put whatever you want in a perogie, but the filling of the perogie, it's almost like a base."

Baba's offers seven regular perogie flavours including potato and onion, cottage cheese, Saskatoon berry, and potato and cheddar cheese, the most popular. They've also experimented with other flavours, like apple cinnamon or pulled pork. Engel says there's an eggs benedict perogie in the works.

The most important element, however, is every potato dumpling being made by hand. 

"Everything we do here is by hand. We peel the potatoes. We stretch out the dough. We cut the dough. Pinching the perogies, cutting up the cabbage, rolling the cabbage rolls — it's a lot of hand work," Engel said. "I think that's what makes it a special food. When you're making perogies by hand, there's just a tenderness and a touch to them that you don't get with a machine-made perogie."

Saskatoon has a history of hand-pinched perogies. Prior to Baba's, a business called the O&O Drive-in sold handmade Ukrainian food and had a perogie drive-thru.