Sarma “Stuffed Cabbage
Sarma is the Serbian version of stuffed cabbage and many Serbs serve it for special occasions like their slava. (1)
Slava: is the Serbian Orthodox tradition of the ritual celebration and veneration of a family's own patron saint. The family celebrates the Slava annually on the patron saint's feast day. The Slava is a tradition of the Serbs, who are a people now living in the modern states of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (mostly in Republika Srpska), Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as in the former Military Frontier (parts of modern states of Croatia, Hungary, and Romania). The Serbs regard the Slava as one of their most significant feast days. (2)
Czechs and Slovaks call them holubky and Poles refer to them as golabki. They all boil down to the same thing -- meat and a filler like rice or barley rolled up in a cabbage leaf and cooked on the stove or in the oven.
Some people use imported or homemade whole heads of brined cabbage (sauerkraut) known as kiseli kupus when making their sarma.
In “Eastern European Food in about.com site” I found a recipe for Barbara Rolek in how to Make 12 Sarma or Cabbage Rolls.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 large head cabbage, 3 to 4 pounds
1 pound ground chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
1 cup raw rice, rinsed
1 (1.4-ounce) package dehydrated onion soup mix
1 (32-ounce) jar sauerkraut , rinsed and drained
6 smoked ribs or ham hock or other smoked meat
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (10-3/4-ounce) can tomato soup
Preparation:
1.Steam cabbage until outer leaves are limp. Remove leaves, and continue.
2. With a paring knife, remove tough ribs from leaves without damaging leaves. Reserve tougher outer leaves but don't use for rolling.
3. Mix ground chuck, ground pork, rice and onion soup mix. Adding a little water will make mixture easier to handle. Heap 2 tablespoons on each leaf, fold top of the cabbbage leaf up over meat, then fold sides to the center, and roll away from yourself to encase completely. Repeat until meat filling is gone.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Discard the cabbage core and coarsely chop any remaining cabbage except the tough outer leaves you have reserved.
5.Spread chopped cabbage on the bottom of a large casserole dish or Dutch oven. Add the sauerkraut.
6. Layer on the cabbage rolls, seam side down. Cut the smoked ribs into pieces, if using, otherwise space the smoked meat of choice between the cabbage rolls.
7. Cover rolls with reserved outer leaves. Mix tomato sauce and soup with enough water to make a liquidy consistency. Pour over rolls until mixture is level with rolls but not over the top.
8. Cover casserole dish and bake 1 hour. Then reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake for 2 more hours. Let sit 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Freezes well. (1)
To serve:
Serve hot. Take the wraps out carefully so they remain intact. Sarma is probably already salty enough, but adding some fresh ground black pepper is usually nice. Serve with fresh, white peasant bread, mashed potatoes and the sauerkraut salad.
Note:
The sarma itself gets noticeably better and tastier with each day's re-heating. If you expect important guests, fix sarma the day before, then re-heat it before your guests arrive. Also, there is no specific recipe for making Samra because *Sarma is a frequent dish all over the Balkans, with each region having its own variations of the recipe, each delicious in its own way. (Coturnix) (3)
References:
(1)
Rolek, B. Serbian Stuffed Cabbage Recipe #1 - Sarma. Retrieved from:
Eastern European Food site,
http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/holidaysfestivals/r/sarma.htm
(2) Slava: A Serbian Orthodox Celebration, Retrieved from: http://www.squidoo.com/serbian-slava
(3)Zivkovic, B. (2008). How to Fix an Authentic Serbian* Sarma (Stuffed Cabbage). Retrieved from: http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2008/01/how_to_fix_an_authentic_serbia.php
(2) Slava: A Serbian Orthodox Celebration, Retrieved from: http://www.squidoo.com/serbian-slava
(3)Zivkovic, B. (2008). How to Fix an Authentic Serbian* Sarma (Stuffed Cabbage). Retrieved from: http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2008/01/how_to_fix_an_authentic_serbia.php