Probably, many wondered why the cabbage roll is so called. Where did it come from? In our understanding, cabbage rolls are minced meat, combined with rice or millet, wrapped in a soft cabbage leaf. And all this is stewed with onions and carrots, poured with tomato juice or sour cream. It would seem that this is a Russian dish. However, this is not at all true.
Our native cabbage rolls are very similar in appearance and composition to dolma. Only dolma is made from meat, which is wrapped in grape leaves, but for stuffed cabbage, the filling can be different, but always wrapped in cabbage leaf.
Origin assumptions
But the question remains, why cabbage rolls are called cabbage rolls. Some sources explain this by the similarity with a carcass of a pigeon wrapped in a piece of fat fried on charcoal. Such a dish was made in Russia and was simply called the “Pigeon”.
The time frame of origin is stretched, tentatively 17-19th century, when French cuisine had a great influence on Russian culinary. During this period, fat with pigeons remains in the past, and cabbage leaf and minced meat with the addition of cereals come to replace it. That is why cabbage rolls are so called.
Other sources say that this dish comes from Scandinavia and the countries of Eastern Europe, and it was dolma that gave birth to a new dish. There is also a version that the replacement of grape leaves with cabbage and lamb with more common meat occurred in the 14-15th century. The Belarusian and Lithuanian mistresses did this.
If we turn to written sources, then cabbage rolls are mentioned by Ekaterina Avdeeva in her book “The Handbook of a Russian Experienced Mistress”. The famous cook in the last chapter wrote about Little Russian borsch, dumplings and cabbage rolls. The chapter was entitled "Various foods that came into use by the Russians." It was the year 1842.
What are these different stuffed cabbage
Since it became clear why cabbage rolls are called cabbage rolls in our country, it’s probably interesting how they look and are called in other countries.
In Israel, cabbage rolls are called holishkes (holishkes). They are, as we have, meat - minced meat with rice, and sweet - dried fruits are mixed with rice and lemon zest is added if desired.
The Poles have a peculiar forcemeat for stuffed cabbage: buckwheat with potatoes. And they wrap it in acidic leaves of cabbage. They have, of course, the classic version of minced meat, but minced meat is preferred. This dish is called golabki, which translates as pigeon legs.
Bulgarians say that thanks to the cuisines of Turkey and Greece they have zelevi sarmi. They add a lot of paprika to the minced veal and pork. Serve the dish with yogurt and peppermint sauce.
If you have the opportunity to visit Turkey, you should try their cabbage rolls, which the Turks call sarma from the word sarmak, which translates as "wrap".
A very interesting recipe for Romanians. For the filling, they take minced pork with rice, to which dill is necessarily added. Twist in cabbage leaves and spread on a baking sheet with a vegetable pad - sour cabbage. On each stuffed cabbage put a piece of bacon and bake.
Lithuanians went further and use various options as a filling: minced meat with pearl barley and mushrooms, an egg and green onion, bell pepper. The name of this Lithuanian dish is balandeliai, translated as “little pigeons”.
If you are too lazy to cook
If you don’t have time to cook classic cabbage rolls, there is no time to boil cabbage leaves, then you can make a whipping dish. Mix the minced meat with boiled rice, finely chop the cabbage, add your favorite spices. Mix everything, form cutlets and stew with onions and carrots. This cooking option explains why lazy cabbage rolls are called lazy. But to taste they are not inferior to ordinary ones.
There is also a dish called Very Lazy Cabbage Rolls. The bottom line is that cabbage is stewed with onions, carrots and tomatoes, minced meat is separately fried, cooked rice is added to it. Everything connects. But this is rather a daily dish than a festive table.
Do I need a side dish?
But about the garnish there is debate. In a book popular in Soviet times, “On Tasty and Healthy Food,” it is stated that cabbage rolls are served with mashed potatoes. Probably many of us will agree that it is very tasty and goes well. But for some, cabbage rolls are an independent dish that does not need to be supplemented.
In any case, it is not very important how cabbage rolls appeared, because they contained many qualities: both tasty and healthy, suitable both for the daily diet and for the festive table.