Hello, I'm from the USA but I have a Polish lineage. One of the many foods in my culture's gastronomy is the Pierogi:
image from jennycancook.com
Culture: Albeit this is an Eastern European dish, it's just generally more present in the Polish parts of the Slavic communities in the USA I have seen.
Translation: Anywho, the Pierogi is a dumpling in English.
Sides: These dishes can be served with bacon on the side, but it can be absolutely be eaten in isolation.
Best time to feast: Like most dishes, it's best served when it comes straight out of the frying pan since it's at its most juiciest and tasteful compared to its "cold" counterpart. Yet no one will complain about it being microwaved after it has gone cold, since it's a dish best served warm and it doesn't ruin the taste of the Pierogi.
Dumplings: a dish with a type of stuffing from vegetables to meats to even diary produce and potatoes encapsulated by a wheat outer-skin.
Dumpling variation: Yeah, like its Western European or Asian counterparts, it has multiple variations depending upon the area of each region. So there can't be a true general formula that one can substitute for all variations, but it isn't hard to figure out how to make a variation-type as long as one has the materials for such!
I ate pierogi once, because I had a polish flatmate. Unfortunately she was a very very very bad cook so we ate it just to not hurt her feelings (it was almost raw). And we drank zubrowka like there's no tomorrow! I don't remember much of what happened after...
Oj ho ho! Albeit I had no control on this matter, I feel sorry for triggering that memory in you. Welp, hopefully that flatmate, all these years later, learned how to be a better chef by now.