Shared by my high school friend, Kathy Kocak Gordon, who enjoyed a wonderful career in the Foodservice Division of Heinz in Pittsburgh, where she established the Heinz University Training and Culinary Center. The center was used to educate Heinz employees and customers through hands-on training, demonstrations, product sampling and testing, and recipe development.

Kathy’s Family Story: This is a special recipe that’s been handed down in my Slovak family. My mom “lived” in her kitchen and, after many, many trials and tweaks, came up with this version, which became her “go-to.”

She dictated this recipe to me about 30 years ago, and I included it in a cookbook our church was working on at the time. I’ve made it several times. It’s a good bit of work and makes enough for a large crowd!

The recipe takes two to three heads of cabbage, depending on their size. As a result of all her experimenting, my mom came up with three essential rules:

  1. Never fully brown the ground beef. It cooks inside the cabbage rolls.
  2. Always use River brand rice.
  3. Use canned tomato juice for the sauce.

Why It Matters to Me:

Although I didn’t realize it at the time, my mom was making memories, not just food. Now that she is gone, we all cherish those special memories. She loved to cook for people and put a lot of that love into whatever she was making, whether it was a Slovak specialty passed down from her mother or recreating the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve (we lived in an all-Italian neighborhood). Her curiosity and interest in food definitely influenced me.

Passed Down Through:

Grandma Irene Kocak → daughter Kathy Kocak Gordon → her children and grandson. My kids and my oldest grandson love it, and I’ve had them make it alongside me so they can learn how to prepare it.