Mum's Polish kitchen - Gołąbki (Cabbage parcels)

Stan Krawczyk • 23 November 2019

Mum's Gołąbki or feeding the 5000

Mum's version of Gołąbki (stuffed cabbage leaves in tomato sauce), Gołąbki is another name for Pigeon because they look like little pigeons I suppose? No Pigeons were harmed during the cooking of this dish!

Mum was an exceptional self taught cook, this was one of my favourites. I hope to keep to her original recipe as much as I remember. I hope you like it?

A few notes before we begin.

Most Polish cooking is a faff and takes a fair bit of effort, its not difficult just a lot of preparation and messing such as peeling, chopping so its not worth making just a small amount for 1 person. All mums portion sizes are suitable for a family of 3 or 4 people and will last 3 to 4 days without going off. They are quite filling, healthy and wholesome you wont leave hungry trust me.
Please ensure you buy good ingredients don't skimp on meat or cheap supermarket own tins of peeled plum tomatoes. Buy the branded ones.

Note to vegetarians: My Grandfather was a butcher by trade so many of mum's dishes are meat based and Veggies were unheard of in the 1970's, so I am sorry this is a meat dish. You can substitute the meat with that horrible Quorn type stuff made from recycled dustbin lids and mushrooms or whatever they make it from?

Personally I would make something like a firm pesto or falafel type mix instead although I have never tried it and don't know how that would taste but what the 'eck give it a go, life is too short to worry about mistakes God knows I made enough of those!

Warning! Gołąbki tends to have after dinner effects on the body, i.e you wont make friends after eating cabbage I can tell you!

Ok shall we start then?

Ingredients:

500g good low fat minced pork

500g good minced beef (or Veal)

1-2 large onions (red is best but white is ok)

2-3 large eggs

3 Chicken stock cubes

2 -3 tins of peeled plum tomatoes

Tomato paste (about 2 Tablespoons worth)

1 large Single cream (but experiment, double cream separates as does sour cream but can be used) Mum used Double.

1 -2 Savoy Cabbages, must be Savoy the plain one is like eating a plastic credit card.

2 carrots peeled but uncut

1 Cup Arborio rice or round desert rice but its harder to find. Cup as in something you drink Tea from.

Dusting of Mixed herbs

Water

Method:

Wash your hands often (something I do a lot!)

Pour a glass of vino.

Put the wireless on (for your bangin' tunes , that's Radio people not wifi)

Select a large saucepan the bigger the better, you want to have a few inches of space from the top once you have layered the Gołąbki in the pan. They tend to expand and lift up, along with the sauce that overflows onto your cooker that just happened for me tonight whilst typing this Blog! I never learn!

Take 1 red onion and grate it finely into a mixing bowl big enough to take the minced meat.

Put both meats into the same mixing bowl.

Mix the onion into the meat ensuring you break up the meat which tends to stay in clumps from the packet.

Now pour about 1 cup full of the rice into the bowl and mix that in. It probably getting a bit hard to mix so add the 2 or 3 eggs - break them into the bowl and mix well. If the mix is a bit watery add some more rice, if its not watery enough and your mix resembles concrete about to go off, add another egg.

Pour in a handful of mixed herbs.

Add a splash of Tabasco (not very Polish but I use it instead of pepper these days) or just grind some black pepper.

Splash of Worcester sauce or Maggi flavouring. Mum used Maggi but recently I read the ingredients on the back and decided eating unprocessed Uranium was more natural but its up the you?

Give it a really good mix, don't use a mixer its better rustic.

Peel the carrots and other onion. Place the carrots on the bottom of the pan or at the end on top its up to you.

Cut the onion in half and just drop that in too.

Drop in the 2 or 3 chicken stock cubes, subject to how large your saucepan is. You can park a small family car inside mine and have room to spare.

Now wash the cabbage and break off the leaves one at a time.

The idea is to take a good tablespoon sized amount of the meat mixture and place it inside the cabbage leaf, wrapping the leaf around it in a similar way you would wrap a tortilla, ensure its tightly wrapped and push it to the bottom of the pan. It's sometimes useful to put a heavy object such as your partners purse or wallet on the top to retain its shape.

Top tip, the spine of the cabbage is very strong, just nip it with a knife in a few places so it bends easier around the meat. You are trying to create a small parcel of cabbage around the meat inside.

Repeat with the other leaves. The larger the leaf the more meat you can add, don't be tempted to put a large meat ball in there it will just fall apart later on.

The very small leaves are not that useful but just drop them in the sauce later, cabbage is good for you and those smaller inner leaves are very tender.

Layer them on top of each other until you have used all the meat mixture up. Please ensure its very tightly packed.

Now add the 2 or 3 tomato tins (subject to how big your pan is) Peeled plum tomatoes have a better taste than ready chopped. Lightly chop them up, add the tomato paste (about 2 tablespoons maybe more if the sauce needs to be stronger).

Now add some cold water just up to the level of the top parcels but ensure there is space to the top of the saucepan. Add some mixed herbs again or Marjoram if you have it.

Put the lid on but let it have a little air gap. Bring to boil and let it cook for 40 mins.

Check it and gently try to mix the tomato paste into the water at the sides but don't move the parcels.

40 mins is a rough guide, your saucepan size the stiffness of the cabbage (oo-er) will decide how long. To be certain 1 hour minimum. Check it, put a tablespoon into the cabbage if its soft its done if not let it boil.

By now your house will be quite aromatic Eau de boiled cabbage - sorry but actually its a happy memory for me.

When its cooked taste the sauce.

Does it need some seasoning, or maybe a shot of sugar (Ooh Sugar Evil!!) Well if the tomatoes are a bit acidic you need some sugar to offset that.

Finally you add the cream, enough to change the tomato sauce a shade paler. Mix it in slowly so it doesn't separate and try not to break the parcels. The cream will help give the sauce body (saucy body?)

The sauce should be the consistency of a slightly thick soup.

OK so its not a pretty thing but tastes nice.

There you go Mrs Krawczyk's Polish Gołąbki.......................

Serve:

Serve in a wide bowl about 3 or 4 parcels with the sauce and a few thick Sourdough bread slices with butter.

It's a healthy and hearty dish that will keep you going for hours, the rice swells and fills you up.

Let it cool down overnight, it will taste better the next day. It should last 3 days outside of the fridge but its best to put it in the fridge overnight after the first day.

Transfer the amount you need for that day and warm it up in another saucepan and eat like that, don't reheat the original pan.

Smacznego (Bon appetite)

I don't recommend this as a first date meal for a number of reasons.

More recipes to come keep an eye and nose out for them.