Traditional stuffed cabbage rolls with cod, rice and fresh herbs served in a creamy avgolemono sauce

This kind of cabbage rolls, the "Sarmades", are a delicious dish coming mainly from North Greece where instead of fresh cabbage leaves they often use pickled cabbage which gives a really different and special flavour. It is a traditional recipe, very popular and beside the classic ground meat version of it, it can also be found cooked with a vegetarian filling. In our case today there is no meat involved but fish along with fresh herbs and rice. The dish ends up with a creamy egg and lemon sauce scented though with fresh cardamom for a special taste but also for a beautiful green colour

Recipe of Panayiotis Sidiropoulos,

a well known Head Cook

from the Greek cooking magazine "Umami"

Ingredients (for 4-6 people)

For the rolls:
1 large pickled cabbage, the leaves
500 gr. of salted cod fillets (or fresh or frozen cod)
50 gr. of risotto rice (I prefer the long grain variety instead)

1 egg

1 small bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 small bunch of fresh spearmint, finely chopped

1 small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 small bunch of fresh dill, finely snipped

a few fresh cardamom leaves, finely chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped

4 small sprigs of celery, finely chopped

olive oil
pepper

For the avgolemono sauce:

1 large egg, separated

1-2 lemons, the juice

salt
pepper

a few fresh caradamom leaves, finely chopped

Method:
A couple of days before cooking, soak the cod fillets in a large bowl filled with water and keep in the fridge, changing the water at least 3 times a day so to discard as much of the saltiness as possible.
*** In case you use fresh or frozen cod fillets you, obviously, omit this procedure.

The day of cooking, discard the bones and take the skin off the fish. Cut in small cubes and transfer into a large bowl. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and stir thoroughly with a spoon without adding any salt!! *** No matter how well you soak the cod in the water there is always a bit of saltiness left so you have to be careful.

Separate the cabbage leaves and rinse well with cold water.

Using a tablespoon get quantities of the filling and place at the bottom end of each cabbage leaf. Carefully fold each leaf into a roll and place the stuffed rolls in a spacious and wide pot with the seam side down.

Drizzle the rolls with some extra olive oil, add enough water to cover them, place a heavy plate on so to keep them stable in the pot, cover with the lid and simmer on medium-low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Switch off the heat but keep the pot on the cooker ring for another 10 minutes.

Get 1-2 heaped ladlefuls of the food stock and keep aside in a bowl.

In another bowl first beat the egg white with a whisk until foamy. Add the egg yolk and continue beating until well blended. Add the lemon juice and then, without stop beating, gradually add the warm food stock into the bowl. In the end add the chopped cardamom and mix well.

Pour the egg / lemon sauce over the food and gently shake the pot sideways so the rolls get evenly coated by the sauce.

Serve while the Sarmades are still warm.