Stuffed Cabbage

Chou farci sounds absolutely elfin—like the name of some langorous, throaty chanteuse. The sight of the words “stuffed cabbage,” however, always used to dull my eye and set my liver aflame. To my great surprise, I discovered that I’d been snubbing a very fine dish. There are lots of ways to stuff a chou—Russian, German, Balkan, probably Scandinavian, for all I know—but this is the most delicate recipe I’ve tried.