Holishkes (also holipches or huluptzes or prokes or gefilte kroit) is cabbage roll dish adapted from the traditional Slavic cuisine by European Jews. Holishkes are prepared from blanched cabbage leaves wrapped in a parcel-like manner around minced meat and then simmered in tomato sauce. Sometimes rice is added to the meat filling. While the dish is eaten all year round, it is customarily served on Sukkot to symbolize a bountiful harvest, and on Simchat Torah because two stuffed cabbage rolls placed side by side resemble Torah scrolls.[1] [2]
Jews in the Russian Empire and north-eastern Poland adapted holishkes from a dish served by the Slavs while Jews in Hungary and the Balkans learned it from their Slavic and Romanian neighbors (cf. sarma). Eastern Europeans called it gołąbki (little doves), because the rolled cabbage in sauce resembled a bird in a nest. The spicing varies by community. Hungarian Jews use a dash of marjoram; Syrians add cinnamon; Persians add dill and mint. As meat was expensive, rice was added to extend the meat.[3]