As October brings cooler days, warmer flavours begin to take centre stage in the TATI kitchen: rich red paprika, fresh sweet cabbage and a deep tomato sauce slowly simmering away.

This month, our TATI Origins journey takes us to Szabolcs, a region where culinary traditions are passed down through generations and where a plate of food is rarely just about satisfying hunger. It is about family, time spent together and the memories that continue to live through familiar flavours.

What makes TATI Origins truly personal are the stories of the people who work in our kitchen every day. This month, Bálint Budai, the chef responsible for the meat section at TATI, takes us back to the flavours of his home region and one of his defining childhood memories: Szabolcs-style stuffed cabbage.

For us, this makes October’s dish particularly special. It begins with Bálint’s own story and reimagines a dish that, for him, still represents family and home.

A tradition rolled into a cone

“In our family, stuffed cabbage was definitely considered a festive dish,” Bálint recalls.

For him, stuffed cabbage has always been a dish that brings people together. It belonged on the table at birthdays and Christmas celebrations just as naturally as it did at a long, unhurried Sunday lunch.

One of the defining characteristics of the Szabolcs version is the use of fresh, sweet cabbage rather than sauerkraut, with tomato playing an equally important role in its distinctive flavour.

In Bálint’s childhood memories, the filling was not always wrapped in cabbage. Curly kale, kohlrabi leaves and even vine leaves could be used, while rice was sometimes replaced with cornmeal. A little smoked bacon could also be added for an extra layer of flavour.

But perhaps its most recognisable feature is its shape. Szabolcs-style stuffed cabbage is traditionally made in small portions, carefully rolled by hand into distinctive little cones.

Szabolcs Nostalgia, Reimagined

For our October TATI Origins dish, we started with the atmosphere of family tables in the countryside and memories of slow Sunday lunches, then brought the story into the TATI kitchen.

Carefully selected ingredients – juicy pork collar, Hungarian garlic and aromatic sweet paprika – create the familiar, comforting flavours at the heart of the dish.

The gently blanched cabbage leaves are filled and rolled into their traditional cone shape before being arranged closely together. A rich, deep-red tomato sauce forms one of the defining elements of the dish. The rolls are slowly braised at 120°C, giving the ingredients time to soften and the flavours to come together.

Following Bálint’s memories, we serve the finished dish with a light, silky sour cream foam and wild sourdough bread, crisp on the outside and soft within.

Sweet tomato, spiced pork, fresh cabbage and cooling sour cream come together to evoke a familiar memory: carefree childhood Sundays spent gathered around the family table.

The TATI table, where past meets present

For us, TATI Origins is about continuing the stories that live within Hungary’s regions, families and generations through food.

This month, Szabolcs arrives at the TATI table through Bálint’s childhood memories.

The result is both familiar and new: a dish that preserves the memory of family tables in Szabolcs while allowing the story to continue through the TATI approach.

Come, and try it at TATI!

How we make it at Tati, based on Gábor’s and Bálint’s recipe

The filling

• 2 kg pork collar
• 0.6 kg rice
• 0.5 kg onion
• 50 g garlic
• 30 g sweet paprika
• 80 g salt
• 10 g black pepper

The souce

• 1 kg tomato paste
• 300 g tomato water
• 0.4 kg onion
• 40 g garlic
• 30 g brown sugar
• 15 g salt
• 2 g black pepper

Thoroughly combine the pork with the rice, finely chopped onion, garlic and spices. Blanch the cabbage leaves in salted water until they become soft and easy to shape, then fill them with the pork mixture and carefully roll them into the distinctive cone shape characteristic of the Szabolcs tradition.

Cook the sauce ingredients together. Arrange the stuffed cabbage rolls closely in a baking dish and pour the rich tomato sauce over them. Cover and slowly braise in the oven at 120°C for 35–40 minutes.

Serve with sour cream foam and fresh, crusty wild sourdough bread.