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PS1’s are actually Russian ''pirozhki'' mass-produced in a special ''pirozhki''-frying machine, called AZhZP-M, which has been developed by the Red Army and is still manufactured in a Ukrainian arms factory. The first such machine, from army surplus, appeared in Szczecin in 1969. ''Pirozhki'' may be easily confused with Polish ''pierogi'', even as they have little in common apart from the basic idea of wrapping some kind of filling with dough and both their names coming from the Proto-Slavic word *''pir'', meaning “a feast”.
So when AZhZP-M started to churn out freshly-fried ''pirozhki'' in a Szczecin coöperative fast-food bar, they had to be given a new name. The bar’s management settled for the word “''pasztecik''”, which means “a little pie” in Polish. By the way, the machine is still operational, making PS1’s at Al. Wojska Polskiego 46 (46, Polish Army Avenue) in Szczecin. Soviet-built machines were made to last.
AZhZP-M is a big metal box weighing almost a tonne, with two cylindrical containers attached to it. One contains yeast dough, the other contains filling. The contents of both are pushed out through tubes so that the filling is encased by the dough; the machine cuts out equal lengths to form little oblong pies. They are placed on a special metal cradle that travels inside the box; there, the pies first rest for a while and then get dunked in a tub of hot oil. After 40 minutes, fresh PS1’s fall out of the box – one every four seconds on average.
