Cabbage rolls is a popular and hearty dish commonly known as ‘golubtsy’ or literally ‘little pigeons’, from Russian голубь ‘golub’ pigeon.
When in the 17th-18th centuries French cuisine came into fashion to Russia, fried pigeons appeared on the tables of nobility.
When cooking, pigeons were coated with lard, wrapped in cabbage leaves and roasted on a wire rack. Golubtsy turned into false fried pigeons and this dish received the name of “cabbage rolls”.
Russian cabbage rolls usually made of ground beef mixed with cooked rice wrapped in cabbage leaves and stewed in thick tomato sauce.
There is another ‘easy’ version of cabbage rolls dish called lazy cabbage rolls ленивые голубцы [lenivye golubtsy]. Lazy cabbage rolls are made of chopped cabbage inside the meatballs, so there’s no need to wrap each one.