When I sat down to write about stuffed cabbage I imagined the paean I’d compose to this East European Jewish classic. First I would explain the deep mystical meaning behind this delicacy alternatively known as holopches, galupches, tutued kaposta or kruv memuleh depending on where in the Ashkenazi Jewish world one traces one’s roots.

After that I would expound on the connection between this food and the Holy Torah, why stuffed cabbage is the favorite food of Torah scholars (though my yeshiva bochur sons seem to eat a lot of shwarma) eaten on the Torah’s own holiday-Simchat Torah.

The problem was that I couldn’t find any information. Aside from some vague comparisons between cabbage rolls and Torah scrolls (you could say the same about blintzes) and an attempt to parallel stuffed foods with Divine mysteries, I was drawing blanks.

I suspect that there is a bigger story here. If anyone wishes to enlighten me, please do,.Still I soldiered on. How could I ? We Jews have been stuffing our cabbages for centuries, with or without raisins. Besides, I had the ultimate stuffed cabbage recipe hidden away in my battered beige plastic recipe file

Then came the next horrible surprise. The recipe was in the file, on the same slip of envelop I’d written it on over 15 years ago. Like Abe Lincoln, I like to put important information on the back of envelopes but I suspect he used a ink pen on the Gettysburg address. My problem was that I borrowed one of my kids’ magic markers and the ink smudged making the recipe illegible.

But that wasn’t an unsurmountable problem. I could call my mother and get the recipe again. So hopeful was I that even before I took down the recipe I ran to the store for a cabbage.

There I had the shock of my life, well maybe not quite my whole life but that portion of it, that hour, those minutes. I couldn’t find a single whole cabbage in the store.

Please don’t take this to mean that we here in the Holy Land are lacking for vegetables. I found dozens of eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, tomato, onion, most vegetables in fact excluding jicama, broccolirabe and Brussels sprouts, but we never have those here. It’s part of the price we pay for living in Hashem’s palace.

But no whole cabbage?

I’m sure I could have found a truck load full at the Machane Yehuda shuk. but you know we bloggers don’t get paid and (sorry dear reader) I wasn’t going to get into the car and drive for an hour just for this post. So I compromised.

I made Unstuffed Cabbage. Yes, me, the daughter of a woman who could stuff cabbages in her sleep, who called me a stuffed cabbage when she tucked me into bed at night, yes me a human stuffed cabbage actually broke down and made unstuffed cabbage.

I know, we all have our dark dirty secrets.

When my dear friend Sylvia, a wise woman whom I turn to for advice on matters far weightier than cabbage first introduced me to this dish, I secretly smirked. Yes Sylvia, if you are reading this, you now know the truth.

But with no cabbage and chopped meat defrosted in the fridge, I had no choice so did it Sylvia’s way. Today one of my son’s polished off the last of the unstuffed cabbage leftovers, which were yummy to begin with and became yummier with the passage of time. So here it is. Unstuffed Cabbage. Yes Sylvia you were right You are often right. No correct that, you are always right.

This will warm you up on a cold night in the Sukka. Enjoy.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Yield: 12-14 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 bags of shredded cabbage.
• 2 cups of water.
• MEAT BALLS
• 2 pounds (1 kilogram) ground meat (can be a mixture of beef and turkey)
• 1 egg
• 4 ounces (125 grams) tomato sauce
• ¼ cup matzo meal
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or one fresh clove crushed
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• SAUCE
• 16 ounces (450 grams) tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar, or to taste
• I tablespoon onion soup mix
• I tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of teriyaki sauce, ,
• The tiniest pinch of ginger.
• . Taste it to adjust seasonings.

Preparation:

1. Boil the water and add shredded cabbage. Let the cabbage steam for five minutes. In the meantime make the meatballs.

.
. Place the balls on top of the cabbage. Cover and continue to cook on low flame.
3. In a bowl, mix the sauce ingredients. Pour on top of the balls.
4. Cook for 1 hour, and then stir and taste

Freezes well. Enjoy