I have never known why they’re called pigeons, but I spent a fair share of my childhood believing that they indeed are made of bird meat.
My cat still hasn’t found out.
So, here’s a recipe for my cat and all those wishing to take a leap of faith into Polish cooking.
Ingredients: 1 large cabbage (must have huge leaves), 1kg minced beef, 3 small carrots, 1 celery, 1 leek, parsley, dill, 1 egg, a few dried forest mushrooms, 10 balls allspice, 5 laurel leaves, 2 tablespoons tomato pasta, salt and pepper to taste.
Directions: Begin by preparing the ingredients: wash all vegetables and get rid of the leaves (not from parsley and dill though!) Peels the celery and carrots.
Grate the carrots, celery and cut up the leak, parsley and dill.
Combine HALF of the vegetable ingredients with the minced meat, and salt/pepper generously to taste. Break in an egg, and mix well - this will give it a more cohesive structure.
The other half of the vegetables will be used as part of the sauce, to produce the flavour which will soak through the cabbage leaves.
Yes, those mushrooms, allspice and laurel leaves will make it or break it with Polish dishes. Like with most European cuisines, such tiny touches of flavour give essence to the entire dish.
The last element - the cabbage. Scald the leaves by slowly pouring the boiling water over the top of the cabbage. This will soften them and make peeling them away easier.
Slowly pull away each leaf one by one, and cut out the hard part of the stem, to ease folding.
Now the pigeon comes in - form a cylinder-like shape from the meat-mixture and place it in the centre of the cabbage leaf. Fold in the sides, and continue by rolling over the meat in the leaf parcel.
Repeat the process with all the meat - the leaves will start getting smaller with time, so make sure to use them wisely. Place the small or broken ones at the bottom of a saucepan. This will prevent the gołąbki from sticking to the bottom during cooking.
Once the pot’s full. Pour in the remainder of the vegetables and spices.
The paste will come from the vegetables, however a splash of tomato sauce gives it more depth and colour. Looks fancy on dill photos too.
Add two tablespoons of tomato paste and pour over with boiling water.
Mix a bit (it will belnd in completely during the cooking) and add extra salt and pepper to flavour the sauce, otherwise, the cabbage leaves will turn soggy and tasteless.
Begin cooking for 40 minutes, covered, without mixing (or you will destroy the tender parcels).
So maybe it’s lost its green charm and orderliness, but as one door, or pot closes, two open - its gained warmth, flavour and pigeonness.
Serve with the garnish, and enjoy these little Polish birds.