tropit

I'm planning to make cabbage rolls tonight, so I started to hunt for recipes. I haven't made this dish in ages. I found several that list raisins in the ingredients. I think that they're old fashioned Polish recipes. My mom used to make cabbage rolls, but I don't remember any raisins in them. She must have made an Italian version with pasta sauce, which was also really good. Does anyone else put raisins in theirs? If so, is it tasty?

ekuw

My Grandparents were 100% Polish and my grandma made cabbage rolls frequently, Never ever heard of raisins in cabbage rolls until your post. That said she was a real traditional cook and poor in her early years so anything extra would not have even been possible.

Iceblossom

I don't remember raisins in my Czech descent grandmother's cabbage rolls or stuffed green peppers which were pretty much the same thing.

However, we did have a lot of fruit with meat. Apples and (sour) cherries mostly, also jams and such on the side. Maybe it was partly because my grandfather was a produce manager for Safeway. But even during the 60s we had exotic things like guava jelly on the side of chicken dishes.

Our new house is near a Lebanese society, we went to a fundraising dinner there that featured cabbage rolls, which were much thinner than I remember grandma's -- cigar shaped/size. Here's a non-raisin recipe that is similar to that:
https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/st...cabbage-rolls/

tropit

Thanks for that recipe.

So, I made the cabbage rolls with raisins last night and it was a hit. The recipe also called for just a little bit of honey, which worked well in toning down the acidity of the tomatoes. I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it vegan by using Impossible meat. Also, I found out at the last minute that I'd run out of rice, so I pre-cooked some pearl barley instead and it tasted even better than the rice would have. The whole thing came out great. It was well balanced and just plain yummy!

SusieQOH

Never heard of raisins in cabbage rolls. My husband is Polish and he makes them with bacon on top and crushed tomatoes.
We eat them with vinegar, which may be a Polish custom, I don't really know. I have to have vinegar with them! I pour a little Bragg's on the plate and let the roll soak it up. So yummy.

GingerK

I have also never heard of raisins in cabbage rolls. And adding honey...hmmmm. We had small cigar shaped cabbage rolls at a Ukrainian wedding many years ago. The filling had no meat-only seasoned rice.

I started par boiling brown rice to add instead of white, and then one day, did the same with pearl barley, for exactly the same reason as you--no rice in the house. We also prefer the taste of the pearl barley. It seems heartier. My DFIL--of Austrian/Ukrainian background, would grind up a ham steak and add it to the ground beef. The rolls were layered with hand pulped whole canned tomatoes. I have taken a slightly easier route by using diced canned tomatoes.

There is an Istrian version of lasagna that originated in far northeastern Italy. It uses cabbage leaves instead of lasagna noodles. An interesting take on the combination of dishes from two bordering nationalities.