Sarmale
Cabbage and vine leaf rolls
Small rolls of cabbage or vine leaves with rice and meat, cooked for hours
Photo: Tizilohja25, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Garrett Ziegler, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sarmale are rolls of sauerkraut leaves, fresh cabbage leaves or vine leaves, filled with rice, onion, herbs and usually minced pork or chicken. They appear on every Moldovan festive table and are eaten hot with soured cream. The dish is Ottoman in origin and is made from the Balkans to the Caucasus; the Moldovan version stands out for its small size.
Origins and history
The name comes from the Turkish verb sarmak, to wrap. Through Ottoman cuisine the dish spread across a large area, and dozens of countries count a version as part of their national cuisine, Romania and Bulgaria included. What sets Moldovan sarmale apart, according to moldova.travel, is their size: they are smaller and more delicately seasoned than those of the neighbours. In some families they are also called găluște. A second difference lies in how they are served: Turkish and Greek vine leaf rolls are often eaten cold, Moldovan sarmale always hot.
What goes into it
For the wrapping, people use fermented cabbage leaves, fresh cabbage leaves or young vine leaves, briefly blanched. The filling consists of minced meat, briefly parboiled rice, onion, carrot and herbs such as parsley, dill and thyme. A family recipe from Leova lays the rolls in an earthenware pot on a bed of leaves, adds a little water and cooks them for 1.5 to 2 hours over a low heat or in the oven, until they turn golden brown. Elsewhere they are cooked in a tangy tomato sauce. A filling of just rice and vegetables makes it a dish for fasting days.
Where and how to try it
Sarmale belong to Christmas, Easter and family celebrations, but they are also a regular item on the menus of restaurants serving Moldovan food. They come to the table with a spoonful of smântână and often mămăligă on the side. According to the national tourism office, the Hanul lui Hanganu inn in Lalova, on the Nistru, is known for its cabbage rolls. At the European Political Community summit in 2023 a vegetarian version was served with a Saperavi wine glaze and smoked soured cream.
Sarmale
Ingredients
Method
- Fry the onion and carrot in the oil for 5 minutes. Boil the rice for 5 minutes in plenty of water and drain.
- Mix the minced meat, rice, onion and carrot, herbs, 1 tsp salt and pepper.
- Lay a leaf vein side up, spoon a tablespoon of filling onto it, fold in the sides and roll up tightly. Repeat until the filling is used up.
- Line the bottom of an ovenproof dish or cast-iron pan with loose leaves and arrange the rolls on top, packed closely together.
- Pour the diluted passata over them until the rolls are just covered, put a lid on and place in an oven at 160 °C for 2 hours.
- Leave to rest for 10 minutes and serve hot with soured cream and, if you like, mămăligă.
