The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
This is how we roll
Cabbage roll enthusiasts enjoy food, fellowship at Lorain Community Senior Center
Cabbage chefs and aficionados showed up at the Lorain Community Senior Center with slow cookers, roasters and healthy appetites to declare: This is how we roll.
On Feb. 23, Lorain Community Seniors held the second Cabbage Roll Cook Off, an afternoon of eating devoted to cabbage leaves stuffed with spiced meat and topped with sauce.
It was a fundraiser for the senior center at 3361 Garfield Blvd., and social time for more than 150 people who devoured cabbage rolls prepared by eight competitors.
The winner was Nancy Lee, who claimed her second title for her family recipe of stuffed cabbage.
“I told her she’s going to have to drop out of the contest, nobody’s going to want to go against her,” said her husband, J.R. Lee.
It was the same winning formula from the earlier cook-off, Nancy Lee said.
“My family, they’d know if I changed it,” she said.
The Lees have been influential with the Eastside Block Watch group in Lorain and now serve on the board of directors of the Lorain Community Senior Center Inc.
But they did not pick themselves to win.
The prize was decided by diners dropping tickets to cast ballots for their favorites among a total of eight competing chefs who brought their favorite recipes.
Gail Bonsor, who was named runner-up in the contest, said her cabbage rolls come out a little different every time.
“They’re never the same way twice,” said Bonsor, who also is active in downtown Lorain promotions.
“I make mine with sauerkraut,” said Charlyn Czapp of Lorain. “Some people like it, some people don’t.”
Noreen Dlouhy learned about the event online and traveled from Cleveland with her husband, George, who taught for seven years at the former Lorain Catholic High School. The couple were cabbage roll co-creators and Noreen Dlouhy credited her husband for finding a sauce recipe from Holland, Mich.
It uses a blend of tomato sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar and olive oil, she said.
“My grandson loves our stuffed cabbage,” Noreen Dlouhy said. “What 9-yearold would like stuffed cabbage?” she added.
Elaine Rigo said her husband, Al, is Hungarian, so she learned the family recipe from her mother-in-law. The rolls blend Hungarian paprika, garlic, ground pork, salt and pepper, with V8 juice in the sauce.
Michelle Crum and Victoria
Wachholz are part of the kitchen crew for the catering business of Fligner’s Market.
Their secret ingredient: “Love,” Crum said.
“Lots of love,” said Wachholz. They noted Fligner’s carries hand-made frozen cabbage rolls for sale and easy preparation at home.
Part of the cook-off is a numbers game, said Barbara Farley, of Sheffield Village. She ran out of her 55 cabbage rolls, but the chefs who had more, also had potential for winning votes from folks who came later to eat.
“I didn’t do it for the winning part,” she said. “I like to cook. This gives me an opportunity to go out and cook and keep it going.”
Farley is a lifetime cabbage roll connoisseur because her mother, the late Beulah Williams, fed them to the family early on.
“Us kids learned to eat them whether we liked sauerkraut or not,” Farley said.
Tom Brown, senior center board member, anticipated St. Patrick’s Day with cabbage rolls cooked with corned beef, carrots and potatoes.
“I just decided to throw a curve ball,” said Brown, who also is executive director for the Lorain Port Authority.
The day included raffles and a 50-50 drawing.
Along with feeding the crowd, the chefs agreed fellowship and trying other recipes made the day a success.
“Just watching people enjoying eating cabbage rolls. It’s fun seeing a lot of different kinds of cabbage rolls,” said Noreen Dlouhy.
“I think meeting different people and trying different recipes, I love it,” Rigo said. “Just the different ways that people make food, I love that. Everyone has a different way that they make.”
The group included some youths who came out with parents and grandparents to enjoy the day.
“They were good cabbage rolls,” said Arianna Wysocki, 11, of Lorain. “It seems like they put a lot of love into them.”
“And for a good cause,” said her father, Brandon Wysocki. “To me, how can you not be happy seeing something along these lines? A lot of drama, a lot of other issues — this is good wholesome fun, good music, good food, good cause.”
“They were good cabbage rolls. It seems like they put a lot of love into them.” — Arianna Wysocki, 11, of Lorain