Golabki
("ga WUM ki")

Chris Maciak

During the course of my life, I have had the opportunity to sample a wide variety of fare from around the world, and surprisingly enough, most while in the country of origin. I have eaten quesadillas in Mexico, brisket in Texas, various styles of barbecue in North Carolina, and even alligator while living in Florida. I've had the opportunity to have Swiss chocolate and veal in mushroom sauce while visiting Switzerland. Wiener schnitzel and bratwurst were favorites while I was in Germany, and even a few Iranian and Indian dishes during the time I spent in Dubai. However, none of these can make me feel more at home than my mother's chicken soup (yes, trite, but very true)--that and golabki.

When I was a child, I lived next door to my grandparents, and would visit them so often that it seemed that I was at their house more than my own. At least once a week, we would have golabki, a Polish dish pronounced like "ga WUM ki," which is cabbage stuffed with rice and ground beef. This is not a "special occasion" food, per se, so I had it quite frequently, but therein lies the reason that it is special to me: I enjoyed seeing my grandparents and we ate galobki about once a week.

I can remember being in the kitchen with the smell of food permeating the air, and I also remember being sent out of the kitchen frequently because of playing in the panty, but mostly I remember waiting for that big pot on the stove to yield its contents. When my grandparents' friends would visit, there would usually be galobki; and during the holidays, be it Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Easter, golabki would be present among the dishes. Ironically, it seemed that the golabki would run out first, due to its popularity.

Although I have eaten a great variety of food, ranging from the mundane to the exotic, golabki has always been there, and sometimes it is nice to have something famililar.