The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine (MCIP) has announced the inclusion of the tradition of preparing and consuming “stuffed cabbage” in the National List of Elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ukraine. This decision highlights the significance of this culinary traditional dish in the cultural context of the country.
This tradition exists in the villages of Ruda, Hnizdychiv, Oblaznytsia, Livchytsia, Hanivtsi, Pokrivtsi and the cities of Stryi, Zhydachiv, Zhuravno, Khodoriv of the Stryi district of Lviv region. Similar dishes are prepared in other parts of Ukraine, but they have their own characteristics.
To prepare the dish, you need fresh products: cabbage, millet, onion, oil, milk, sour cream, mushrooms and meat. Although there is no unified recipe, the cooking technology has common features. Sauerkraut is boiled until half cooked, the water is drained. Then milk is added and brought to a boil. Then washed millet grains are added and cooked until cooked.
Next, melt the butter in a frying pan, finely chop the onion and add to the butter. When the onion becomes transparent, add homemade sour cream and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring. Then add this to the cabbage and mix. If the cabbage is too thick, you can add a little more milk. Some housewives, after removing the dish from the heat, put cherry or currant branches on top and leave for a while so that the dish is saturated with aroma. Separately, prepare cracklings and mushroom gravy and serve stuffed cabbage with them.
The most delicious, most fragrant "stuffed cabbage" is the one that is cooked in the oven or brazier. The secrets of delicious stuffed cabbage are high-quality products and proper cooking, and it is also worth letting the dish infuse after cooking so that the flavors combine better. The culture of consuming stuffed cabbage is not only a way of eating, it is a way of life. The dish was prepared for weddings, funerals, on weekdays, and on holidays.
According to legend, "Covered Cabbage" was Ivan Franko's favorite dish, and it was also loved by Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky, Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky, Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, and Olga Bachynska. Solomia Krushelnytska also liked it.
