The ties that bind us.

Passport & Plate - Sarma (Cabbage Rolls)

Croatia | Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients
Vegetable oil for frying
½ onion diced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
250g spec diced
250g Arborio rice
1kg Pork Mince
1 egg
Herb Salt to taste
Pepper

1 Head of Pickled Cabbage 0r 20 leaves*

250g Sauerkraut
250g Spec
500g Smoked Pork Bones
4 Tablespoons Plain Flour
2 Tablespoons Sweet Paprika
6 Bay Leaves

**You can buy these at most European delicatessens but nothing beats home made.
All you need is a head of cabbage, some salt, water and a non-metal container.

 

How to prepare this recipe
Heat oil in pan and fry onion, garlic and spec. Add Arborio rice and water to cover. Simmer for a few minutes until the rice softens and absorbs the water. In a large bowl combine onion mixture with mince, salt, pepper and egg. Use your hands to work the mixture.

Separate cabbage leaves, cut out any hard stalks. Large leaves can be cut in half. Reserve offcuts for sauerkraut.

Place a small handful of meat mixture onto leaf and roll tucking the ends into the roll with your fingers.

Lay half sauerkraut over the base of a large pot. Place rolls to cover the base of the pot then layer some spec and smoked bones. Repeat with another row until all the rolls are in the pot, 2-3 rows. Cover with remaining sauerkraut, smoked pork bones and spec. Pour water just below top.

Bring to boil then reduce to simmer for 1 ½ hours.

Heat oil in pan, add flour, stir until the mixture bubbles. Add paprika and continue to stir, add cold water until a thick mixture forms. Add stock from the rolls to make thick sauce. Pour this over the rolls pressing down with a wooden spoon. Do not stir the rolls or place a spoon into them as you will break them.

Pickled Cabbage: Remove outer tough leaves and reserve. Core the cabbage and fill with salt. Place in container core up and cover with the outer leaves. You can layer several cabbages if you have a large enough container or a barrel. Fill the container with water to the top. Cover with a clean cloth and an untreated wooden board weighed down so cabbage doesn’t rise during the fermentation process. Store in garage. After 10 days start to skim the foam off the surface. The cabbage will be ready after 40 days. You can freeze the heads or preserve them in jars.

We smoke our own spec and pork ribs by curing them in salt and water and then cooking them over hot smoke in a smoke house. The smell and taste it infuses into the rolls is unbeatable.


Simmer the rolls on gentle heat for a further ½ hour to 1 hour.

Serve with mashed potato.

 

The story behind this recipe
My maternal grandparent’s home in Toronto was a labyrinth of hidden treasures. A multitude of fruits and vegetables grew in a tight space. Every autumn the process of pickling and preserving began for winter as had been done in Croatia and Hungary. My grandfather would make yoghurt and cheese and a variety of sausages. A large barrel housed pickled cabbage heads to be used for Sarma. All these smells mingled in the concrete basement along with a collection of National Geographics, ice skates, one piano accordion and an inflatable raft. My friends and I would head there after school to see what delicacy was on offer. Sarma was my favourite.

My paternal grandfather’s home in the village of Vrbanja had no running water, a wood burning stove and dirt floors. One room was boarded up as a larder for storing and ageing smoked meat and pickled cabbage. I had never tasted anything like the spicy Kulen, Spec and Prosciutto my grandfather made. My father would climb the ancient trees to bring us fresh walnuts and we would shake the cherries from the trees at the back of the farm that bordered on cornfields. The neighbours would join my mother in making Sarma for the celebratory feast.

My parents would make sarma whenever I came to visit them in Brisbane. I would arrive to a family celebration and Mama would whisper, “I put some away for you to have tomorrow.” I have on occasion been known to carry a container filled with sarma onto a plane home, along with a bag full of smoked meat. It is a layering of happy memories, every process a reminder of my heritage.