•
Lahanodolmades (Λαχανοντολμάδες) – Greece •
Töltött káposzta – Hungary • Balandėliai – Lithuania •
Halubcy – Belarus •
Golubtsy (Голубцы) – Russia •
Gołąbki – Poland •
Holubci (Голубці) – Ukraine •
Kāpostu tīteņi – Latvia •
Holubky – Czech Republic and Slovakia •
Holishkes – Ashkenazi Jewish •
Prakas – Ashkenazi Jewish •
Krouv memula (כרוב ממולא) – Israel •
Kåldolmar – Sweden •
Kaalikääryle – Finland •
Kapsarull – Estonia •
Japrak or
sarma (
sarma me lakër të bardhë) –
Albania • Сарма (
sarma) – North Macedonia • Сарма /
sarma – Serbia •
Sarma / Сарма or
japrak / Јапрак – Bosnia and Herzegovina •
Sarma (Crimea, Ukraine) •
Punjeni kupus or
arambašići or
sarma – Croatia • Сарма (
sarma) – Bulgaria •
Sarmale – Romania, Moldova •
Sarma – Southeastern Europe and Turkey •
Lahana dolması/sarması – Turkey •
Kələm dolması – Azerbaijan •
Kaghambi tolma (կաղամբի տոլմա) – Armenia •
Tolma (ტოლმა) – Georgia •
Dolmeye kalam (cabbage dolma) – Iran •
Malfoof mahshi (ملفوف محشي) – the Levant •
Mahashi malfoof (محاشي ملفوف) - The Arab states of the Gulf •
Mahshi kromb (محشى كرمب) – Egypt and Sudan • ''
and Krautwickel'' – Germany and Austria •
Cigares au chou – Quebec •
Involtini di cavolo – Italy •
Capuns – Graubunden, Switzerland and Lombardy, Italy •
Capunet – Piedmont, Italy •
Bragioli – Malta •
Ouma onder die komberse or
oupa se kouse - South Africa •
Niños envueltos – Sudamerica (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay) •
Charuto de repolho – Brazil •
Aluske – Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) •
Bai cai juan (白菜卷) – China •
Rōru kyabetsu (ロールキャベツ) – Japan •
Kålruletter - Norway •
Cải bắp cuốn - Vietnam
Europe Armenia In
Armenian cuisine, cabbage rolls are stuffed with
beans and tart fruits. It is wrapped with cabbage leaves, and stuffed with
red beans,
chickpeas,
lentils,
cracked wheat,
tomato paste,
onion and multiple spices, mostly the spice mix of
chaimen, which is also used to coat
basturma. Cabbage rolls are called
Pasuts tolma (պասուց տոլմա; Lenten dolma) in
Armenian where they are made of seven different grains – chickpea, bean, lentil, cracked wheat, pea, rice and maize. Armenian cooks sometimes use
rose hip syrup or
grape syrup to flavor stuffed cabbage rolls.
Azerbaijan and Turkey Stuffed cabbage leaves (; ) are popular all year in Azerbaijan and Turkey, but especially in winter when other vegetables are less plentiful. The stuffing usually consists of rice and herbs such as coriander, mint and dill, onions and meat, although there is a variation,
yalançı dolma (Azerbaijani),
yalancı dolma (Turkish) ("fake"
dolma), which is meat-free.
Balkans Cabbage rolls are a culinary standard in
Turkey,
Bulgaria,
Greece,
North Macedonia,
Albania,
Serbia,
Montenegro,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia,
Slovenia and
Romania. They are traditionally made with leaves of brined cabbage stuffed with ground beef, pork and rice, while meat can also be omitted or substituted with crushed walnuts, pine nuts and raisins. In
Romania and parts of
Greece, cabbage rolls are a favorite dish during Christmas time and other non-fasting holidays. In some countries, such as
Serbia, cabbage rolls are traditionally simmered at length in a paprika-based sauce with chunks of smoked bacon.
Romania and Moldova With
sarmale being the national dish of Romania, there are different variations and sizing depending on the region. Sarmale are Romanian stuffed cabbage rolls traditionally served on
Christmas and
New Year's Eve but also served throughout the year at weddings, baptism parties, and other large celebrations. It is considered a winter dish and starts with the orthodox celebration of St. Ignatie day – Preparing the Pig, when Romanians traditionally slaughter the pigs for Christmas. Ground pork or beef is mixed with sauteed caramelized onions and rice, stuffed in a cabbage leaf, pickled sauerkraut leaf or grape leaf. For flavor, they usually consist of layers with bacon, smoked ribs, or smoked sausage. Seasoned with spices and aromatics, it is traditionally served with
polenta, sour cream and pickled spicy peppers.
Hungary Töltött káposzta, the traditional Hungarian cabbage roll, can be made from sweet or sauerkraut cabbage leaves filled with a mixture of minced pork meat (or sometimes
turkey), eggs, onions, and rice seasoned with caraway, salt, and pepper. In
Transylvania and
Alföld regions, it is called
takart. The Hungarian version often contains minced
paprika and is served with
sour cream on top. It used to be seasoned with saffron. Many Hungarians serve this food during Christmas and New Year's Eve, although it is a common dish throughout the year (a sweet version during summer and fall, and a sour version during winter and spring). The sour stuffed cabbage is part of the traditional Hungarian pig slaughter menu and it is said that eating this during the holiday season will bring wealth and health for the new year. There are many regional variations: in
Kárpátalja and Nyírség, for example, they make small töltött káposzta for weddings. Although the rolling up of cabbages was first mentioned in the 1695 book of
Miklós Tótfalusi Kis, a similar dish,
káposztás hús (not to be confused with
székelykáposzta), was known long before it. Káposztás hús was very popular. This traditional cabbage stew had a special significance to
Hungarian people. The 17th-century manuscript cookbook of the
Csáktornya court, written sometime before 1662, begins its list of dishes with the phrase, "The cabbage meat is the coat of arms of Hungary". "In the old days, there was no dish more suitable for Hungarians than cabbage", said
Péter Apor, praising it as the meal of the lords. Around 1730,
Mátyás Bél also called "Cabbage with bacon, the coat of arms of Hungary". Lippay also calls it the "coat of arms of Hungary" and states that
Hungarian people cannot live without it.
Kelemen Mikes, when traveling to
Turkey, also writes back, "The beautifully written letter pleases the mind, as does these cabbages with dill and sour cream". Mikes also finds it fitting for a coat of arms: "Even if I had no other praise to say about it, is it not enough to say that it is the Transylvanian coat of arms?" The cabbage roll itself also appears as a motif in the culture. In
Zsigmond Móricz's short story "Tragedy", the protagonist János Kis dies while eating stuffed cabbage, of which he had vowed to eat fifty.
Poland Stuffed cabbage rolls are a popular Polish dish. Pork and beef mixed with rice or barley are nestled in a cabbage leaf and cooked in the oven or on the stove until tender. The cabbage rolls are called
gołąbki in Polish,
holubky by Czechs and Slovaks, or
sarma /
сарма by Serbs, Croatians and Bulgarians. The sauce is often the main difference in regional variations. In a less popular version called
leniwe gołąbki (lazy cabbage rolls) the ingredients are chopped, combined and baked or fried.
Ukraine In Ukraine, the filling of
holubtsi varies throughout the country. In the
Carpathian region corn grits are used, whereas in the
Poltava area
buckwheat groats are preferred. The cereal is lightly cooked, mixed with fried
onions,
shkvarky (
pork cracklings) or raw minced meat. The mixture is combined with spices and seasonings, and is then used as the filling for steamed fresh or pickled cabbage leaves. In spring cabbage leaves are often replaced with fresh
beetroot leaves, and in the southwest – with fresh young grape leaves. The
holubtsi are lightly fried and then stewed with sour cream, or tomato, mushroom or some other sauce. During
Lenten periods this might be water mixed with
kvas, while at other times it might be a meat broth. In
Left Bank Ukraine and in the south,
holubtsi are usually big, made from the entire cabbage leaf, while in the
Dniester region and the Carpathians the cabbage leaf is divided into several pieces. In the latter regions, cooks who made large holubtsi were considered lazy. In Poltava cooks preferred the large holubtsi because they were juicier. In most of Ukraine holubtsi were an everyday dish, but in most of
Right Bank Ukraine, with the exception of
Polissia, they were also included in holiday meals. Beginning in the 1920s, holubtsi began to be stuffed with a rice-meat mixture, and, instead of kvas, they began to be cooked in tomato juice, sauce or paste. This is the most common way they are prepared nowadays. Holubtsi are a popular dish for both everyday meal and as special occasion treat. For
Sviata Vecheria (Christmas Eve supper) in many regions of Ukraine, holubtsi constitute one of the twelve traditional dishes served on the night. Only Lenten ingredients are used in this case. On occasion of Sviata Vecheria, Boykos and Transcarpathians make holubtsi from "kryzhavky" (pickled whole heads of cabbage). Into these "pickled" holubtsi they put a stuffing of rice and mushrooms. Carpathian-style holubtsi are usually made from fresh cabbage and stuffed with corn grits, or with grated raw potato (vorokhta, verkhovyna, kvasy). These are best served with mushroom gravy. To differentiate the different types of holubtsi, they are wrapped into different shapes: corn-filled ones are made into the shape of envelopes, with the edges folded in, potato-filled are simply rolled up. A classic Halychian (Galician) Sviata Vecheria dish is holubtsi stuffed with grated potato and served with a mushroom machanka (dipping sauce). On 4 May 2023, the cooking of holubtsi, a Ukrainian traditional dish, was inscribed in the National Inventory of Elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ukraine.
Russia The Russian version of cabbage rolls usually consists of
minced meat mixed with cooked rice (or buckwheat) wrapped in cabbage leaves and stewed in a mixture of either sour cream or tomato sauce or both. There is an easier-to-make variation of that dish called
lenivye golubtsy ("lazy" cabbage rolls): the cabbage is chopped and mixed with minced meat and rice so there is no need to wrap every meatball in a cabbage leaf. As for the
bell pepper variant the dish, the Russians refer to it as "perchiki" ("little peppers", even though bell peppers are big among peppers). File:Golubtci 025.jpg|Golubtsi stuffed with buckwheat groats, served with
smetana File:Golubci8.jpg|Golubtsi stuffed with rice and meat mixture File:כרוב ממולא.jpg|Jewish
holishkes are similar to the dishes described above
Sweden and Finland leaves
Kåldolmar ("cabbage dolma") are
Swedish cabbage rolls filled with
rice and minced meat (most often
pork). They are traditionally eaten with boiled or mashed
potatoes,
gravy, and
lingonberry jam. In
Finland the same dish is known as
kaalikääryle (plural
kaalikääryleet). In 1709, after losing the
Battle of Poltava, the wounded
Charles XII of Sweden and the remnants of his army escaped with their
Cossack allies to the
Ottoman town of
Bender, in present-day
Moldavia, where they were granted refuge by
Sultan Ahmed III. Charles XII spent more than five years in the Ottoman Empire, trying to convince the Sultan to help him defeat the Russians. When he finally returned to Sweden in 1715, he was followed by his Ottoman creditors and their cooks. The creditors remained in Sweden at least until 1732; it is generally believed that Ottoman style dolma were introduced into Swedish cooking during this period. As indicated by the name, Swedish
kåldolmar are generally considered a variety of the
dolma. The earliest known Swedish recipe for "Dolma" is in the 1765 edition of the famous
cookbook of
Cajsa Warg. Warg instructed her readers to prepare the rolls using vine leaves, lamb, rice, and lemon juice. Toward the end of the recipe, however, Warg suggested that those who could not afford vine leaves could use preboiled cabbage leaves in their place. Nowadays, frozen
kåldolmar, cooked with preboiled cabbage leaves, are sold in most major food stores in Sweden. To cherish early modern cultural interchange between Sweden and the Orient, the Cabbage Dolma Day (Kåldolmens dag) is celebrated on 30 November, the day
Charles XII was killed during a military campaign in Norway. The celebrations were instated in 2010 by a group known as the Friends of the Cabbage Dolma (Kåldolmens vänner). In a series of media appearances, historian
Petter Hellström explained that the group wanted to make 30 November a day to remember and ponder the multifaceted roots of Sweden's cultural heritage, Starting in 2013, the Cabbage Dolma Day was hosted by the
Swedish History Museum in
Stockholm, the country's foremost historical museum. The celebrations have also been supported by a number of important civil society organizations over the years, notably the
Church of Sweden and the Federation of Local History and Folk Culture (Sveriges hembygdsförbund).
Africa Egypt In
Egyptian cuisine, cabbage rolls are called
maḥshī kromb or
maḥshī kronb ( or ), literally translating to "stuffed cabbage". The leaves are fresh and commonly cut into smaller pieces and partially pre-cooked. The most common filling is a mixture of rice, onion, tomato, herbs, and spices (most typically including mint, dill, and cumin); meat is rarely used in Egyptian stuffed cabbage. The rolls are arranged in a pot and boiled in broth or tomato-based sauce, also including the herbs and spices. As the pieces of cabbage and therefore the rolls are small, the leaves are usually simply rolled around the filling almost like a small cigar, and are left open at the ends rather than folded around the filling to produce a completely enclosed package.
Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe popularized the dish in
New York City, which is why they became known as
Jewish cabbage.
Asia China In
Chinese cuisine, cabbage rolls are called 白菜卷, pronounced
báicài juǎn.
Levant Cabbage rolls are popular across the
Levant region. They are called
malfouf () or
malfouf mahshi (); they are typically stuffed with rice and minced meat (usually ground beef), and seasoned with
cinnamon, with lemon juice as topping. ==See also==