Galishkys – What are they?

My great grandmother, Bertha Arndt Norenberg (1893-1970) came to America in 1910 and married Konstantin “Charlie” Nörenberg seven months later. At Christmastime, great grandma always made cabbage rolls. These wonderful-smelling packets of wintertime warmth are a Norenberg tradition. My family calls them galishkys [gah-LISH-keys].

Cabbage Rolls

All across the world, cabbage rolls are traditional fare. My eastern European ancestors were not the only ones making tasty meat packets. This same comfort-food is found in many cultures:

• Polish: gołąbki [pigeons]
• Slavic: halupki
• Jewish: holishkes
• Ukranian: holubtsi
• Russian: Голубцы
• German: Kohlrouladen or Krautwickel
• Swedish: kåldolmar
• Finnish: kaaliariletteja
• Lebanese: malfouf
• Chinese: 翡翠包肉 [jade-wrapped meat]

Why did great grandma call them galishkys? Which of the above looks or sounds similar?

Recipe Research

In the Norenberg/Arndt tradition, cabbage rolls are sweet and sour. After hours of slow simmering, the steamed cabbage tastes quite sweet. Layers of sauerkraut provide the tangy flavor.

My grandmother Mae Norenberg learned to make galishkys from her mother-in-law Bertha. In 1986, I collaborated with grandma to compile her recipes into a book called, Recipe for Anything. Her recipe for Pigs in a Blanket/Galishkys is included in the Hotdish section. (You know how much I LOVE Hotdish!)

As newlyweds, Bertha’s youngest son and wife lived with her and Charlie. Daughter-in-law, Ardis Lillquist Norenberg, recalls helping to make galishkys in her mother-in-law’s kitchen. Bertha also made the family’s sauerkraut in a large crock. Sometimes, Bertha put an unsliced cabbage head in the brine to be able to use the whole leaves for galishkys.

Grandma Mae’s and Great Aunt Ardis’s recipes are very similar. Using both recipes as guides, this is how I made galishkys for Christmas this year.

How-to

Put 3 cups of water into a saucepan. Add 1 cup of long-grain white rice. Cook the rice until it is just starting to be tender. Rinse and drain. Set aside.

Prepare a clean cutting board or countertop. This is where you will place steamed cabbage leaves.

Using a paring knife, cut out the inner core of one large cabbage head.

Fill a large pot with several inches of water. Place the cabbage head in the pot with the core down. Heat the water and thereby steam-cook the outer cabbage leaves. (When done, the leaves should not be completely limp/translucent or they will tear.) Use a spoon to gently lift the leaves off the cabbage head one at a time. Often, I peeled a leaf from the cabbage head and put it back in the pot to soften up a bit more. Use the backside of a spoon to lift the leaves and to not burn your fingers. Place the leaves on the cutting board/counter to cool. Save the leftover, smaller leaves and bits around the core. (My cabbage yielded 2 dozen leaves. I use the whole leaf, including the large rib.)

Place in a large mixing bowl: 2 pounds of ground beef (80%), 1 pound ground pork, 0.5 cup each of diced onion and celery, 0.75 teaspoon salt and 0.5 teaspoon ground black pepper. Combine the ingredients with gloved hands.

Place in the bottom of an 8-quart pot: the leftover small cabbage leaves, any torn leaves and some sauerkraut.

Using a 0.25 cup metal scoop, place a portion of the meat mixture into the center of a cupped cabbage leaf. Adjust the amount for larger or smaller leaves.

Roll the thicker leaf edge over the top of the meat mixture. Gently fold in the 2 sides of the leaf over/around the first fold. Finish rolling the leaf. When I rolled mine, I kept the meat in more of a chubby, rounded shape, not long and skinny like an egg roll. Grandma’s cabbage rolls were never egg roll-shaped.

Place cabbage rolls in the pot. Layer with more sauerkraut. Use all the sauerkraut liquid. The photo below shows my batch in-process; my 8-quart pot was very full at the end.

Cover the pot and simmer. This year’s batch simmered for about 3 hours until an instant-read thermometer was at least 165 degrees F.

Our family recipe does not have tomato sauce. I don’t know why. That’s our tradition.

Galishky Recipe

Galishky Recipe Printable

a very large head of cabbage
1 cup long-grain white rice
4 cups (one quart) German-style sauerkraut (no carraway), keep all the liquid

2 pounds ground beef, 80%
1 pound ground pork
0.5 cup diced celery
0.5 cup diced onion
0.75 teaspoon salt
0.5 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Put 3 cups of water into a saucepan. Add the rice. Cook the rice until it is just starting to be tender (don’t cook it all the way). Rinse and drain. Set aside.
2. Prepare/clean a large cutting board or countertop. This is where you will place steamed cabbage leaves.
3. Using a paring knife, cut out the inner core of the cabbage head.
4. Fill a large pot with several inches of water. Place the cabbage head in the pot with the core down. Heat the water and thereby steam-cook the outer cabbage leaves. (When done, the leaves should not be completely limp/translucent or they will tear.) Use a spoon to gently lift the leaves off the cabbage head one at a time. Often, I peeled a leaf from the cabbage head and put it back in the pot to soften up a bit more. Use the backside of a spoon to lift the leaves and to not burn your fingers. Place the leaves on the cutting board/counter to cool. Save the leftover, smaller leaves and bits around the core. (My cabbage yielded 2 dozen leaves. I use the whole leaf, including the large rib.)
5. Place in a large mixing bowl: the meats, vegetables, and seasonings. Combine the ingredients with gloved hands.
6. Place in the bottom of an 8-quart pot: the leftover small cabbage leaves and some sauerkraut.
7. Using a 0.25 cup metal scoop, place a portion of the meat mixture into a cabbage leaf cup near the thicker/rib section. Adjust the amount for larger or smaller leaves.
8. Roll the thicker leaf edge over the top of the meat mixture. Gently fold in the 2 sides of the leaf over/around the first leaf fold. Finish rolling the leaf. When I rolled mine, I kept the meat in more of a thicker, rounded shape, not long and skinny like an egg roll. Grandma’s cabbage rolls were never egg roll-shaped.
9. Place cabbage rolls in the pot. Layer with more sauerkraut. Use all the sauerkraut liquid.
10. Cover the pot and simmer.
11. Use an instant-read thermometer to make sure that the meat mixture is at least 165 degrees F. I simmered mine for about 3 hours on very low heat.

Notes:
There will be a lot of juice in the bottom of the pot; that’s where the best galishkys are.
These taste even better re-heated.

Can you smell ’em?

Galishkys 2022

What Christmastime food do you remember?