The French love stuffed cabbage in winter. They serve it two methods — with meatballs rolled up in particular person cabbage leaves and, impressively, as a reconstituted complete cabbage with the stuffing inserted between the leaves. This recipe, which makes use of the far simpler first methodology, places a French twist on a dish my grandmother used to serve, with flavors redolent of her Jewish Ukrainian roots.
Choux farcis / Stuffed cabbage rolls
Prepartion takes time, nevertheless it’s definitely worth the effort. Step one is blanching the outer leaves of a giant head of cabbage. In Jap Europe, white cabbage is usually used, however the French favor darkish inexperienced Savoy cabbage, which has the benefit of being simpler to deal with. The subsequent step is making meatballs and rolling them up within the blanched leaves. A sauce is then product of the shredded interior leaves of the cabbage, onion, garlic, tomatoes and broth. Purple wine vinegar and sugar are added to supply a sweet-and-sour style. The rolls are cooked within the sauce in two phases, first on the stovetop after which within the oven.
One factor that differentiates this model from extra typical French recipes is the usage of floor beef by itself somewhat than a mix of beef, pork and/or veal. One other is the absence of bacon, which is commonly utilized in France to bard particular person stuffed cabbage leaves which might be then tied up with string. After which there’s the sauce, which in France hardly ever consists of tomato and is rarely candy and bitter (at the very least I’ve by no means encountered it that manner).
What makes this recipe extra French than my grandmother’s model is the usage of herbes de Provence, France’s go-to combination of dried rosemary, thyme, savory and oregano. Preparation of the sauce can be completely different, because the veggies are sautéd in olive oil earlier than the cabbage rolls are added. Grandma Anne merely boiled all the pieces all collectively.
Should you’d wish to experiement with the entire cabbage model, typical of the rugged Auvergne area of central France, there are two methods to go about it. Within the first, massive blanched cabbage leaves are used to line a pot. The meat stuffing and extra cabbage leaves are then layered in, with the big leaves folded excessive to type a globe. In a extra elaborate model, a complete cabbage is boiled and, when cool, the middle leaves are eliminated, the outer leaves are pried aside, the stuffing is inserted and the cabbage is shaped again right into a globe and tied up with string or crépine, a lacy pork membrane.
Now for a little bit historical past. In Ukraine, stuffed cabbage rolls are often called holubtsi, or little doves, as a result of they’re thought to resemble birds in a nest. In Yiddish, they’re often called holishkes. I by no means heard this identify in my household as a result of my grandparents solely spoke Yiddish in entrance of the kinder once they didn’t need us to grasp. However my grandma — who was born within the States within the Nineties however conceived in Ukraine, then a part of the Russian empire, earlier than her household departed — would have recognized them this fashion.
Based on Wikipedia, stuffed cabbage rolls have been a part of Jewish delicacies for two,000 years. Preparation various in line with area. Syrian Jews added cinnamon, whereas Persian Jews added dill and mint. The dish was typically served on Simchat Torah, an early autumn vacation marking the tip of the yearlong studying of the Torah scrolls and the beginning of a brand new cycle (rolls maybe as a result of the yr was rolling round once more?).
However Jewish variations are only one incarnation of a dish that has been served for hundreds of years throughout a lot of Europe in addition to the Close to East and North Africa. Cabbage rolls could also be filled with rice or one other grain, mushrooms, potato, crushed walnuts or eggs, with or with out meat. They might be served with bitter cream on prime, alongside or within the sauce (however not in Jewish households). Within the Nordic international locations, they’re served with lingonberry jam on the facet. There are apparently even Chinese language, Vietnamese and Japanese variations.
In France wine is commonly included within the sauce for stuffed cabbage rolls, however I favor my grandmother’s recipe with out it. But nothing says the dish can’t be accompanied by wine — the truth is, on this nation, that will be a travesty. I’d advocate a clean pink, for instance a Bordeaux comparable to a Médoc or a Côtes du Rhone. For starters, you would serve beet salad with walnuts, winter salad with walnuts and pears or, when you’re feeling formidable, do-it-yourself gravalax (which must be ready at some point prematurely). For dessert, I’d counsel pears in pink wine and cassis or sliced oranges with star anise.
Blissful cooking.
