Today’s recipe is courtesy of a 1939 cookbook entitled “United States Regional Cookbook.” It was well used, the cover has seen better days. Inside, there are notes listing favorite recipes and where the recipe could be found.
As I was browsing through the cookbook, I had to chuckle at the assertion that New England was considered the culinary capital of the country. So much for celebrating the specialties of each region!
My Honey and I lived in New Jersey for 12 years and frequently took road trips into Pennsylvania’s. On the trips, we would often enjoy meals prepared by the “Pennsylvania Dutch.” This recipe is taken from the “Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book” section of the Regional Cookbook and is absolutely to die for. Literally. Because of the sausage, it has an extremely high fat content. In future iterations of it, I will fiddle with perhaps replacing some of the sausage with mushrooms, using turkey sausage, or a meat substitute. Also, because it cooks over low heat, I might try cooking it in my slow-cooker.
This recipe is also very frugal friendly. I used Jimmy Dean sausage that was on sale for $2.50. The head of cabbage was just under a dollar and the tomato soup was also around that price. Everything else I already had in my pantry. An entree for six people for right around $5! McDonald’s can’t beat that!
Meat and Cabbage
(Old Dutch Recipe)
1 pound sausage meat
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, well beaten
1/3 cup uncooked rice
2 tablespoons fat
1 onion, sliced fine
1 1/3 cups tomato soup
Water
1 teaspoon minced parsley
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
6 cabbage leaves
Season meat will with salt and pepper and add egg. Mix well. Mix in rice. Melt fat, add onion and cook for several minutes. Combine tomato soup and equal amount of water and add to onion. Add parsley, celery, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes. Wash cabbage leaves and boil until limp. Put 2 tablespoons of meat mixture in each leaf and roll tightly. Secure each roll with a toothpick. Place in a saucepan and pour sauce over rolls. Cover pan tightly and cook slowly for 3 hours. Serve very hot. Makes 6 portions.
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I think the reason New England was touted as the culinary capital of the US was because of Miss Fanny Farmer and her Boston Cooking school, which for better or for worse tried to impose a national standard on middle-class American cooking starting in the decade just before WWI. If you enjoy domestic history, “Perfection Salad” by Laura Shapiro is a fun read.
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As a person born and raised in the South, I can attest to there being other regional cooking delights!!
I’ve been in New England for 12 years now. I also attended college in Massachusetts for 3 years.
I prefer Southern cooking, hands down. (For example, “New England Boiled Dinner” vs. “Smoked BBQ and sweet potato fries.” Need I compare more?)
It seems that “Up North” kind of always presented itself as the superior region. All my schoolbooks were always written as if one lived above the Mason/Dixon. My mother’s family goes way back in Florida. The “Snowbirds” would always come in complaining about how things were done in Florida. As they were moving to live there. NOT the way to make friends and influence Southerners!
I’m so glad that now we’re able to be exposed to all the wonderful delights from ALL of our regions in the US. A definite benefit of living in our era.
Tex-Mex anyone?