Stuffed Vegetables

Pondering the Pantry --- Stuffed Vegetables

There is virtually no end to vegetables that can be stuffed, the list of fillings is and extensive. One can stuff grape leaves, carrots, tomatoes, pumpkin, cabbage… even chestnuts. Virtually any vegetable. When prepared properly, these dishes can be both delicious and nutritious. There are, however, two basic problems. Preparation can be both labour intensive and time consuming. Eight years ago Yaron ben Yaish, an innovative businessman, evaluated the situation, sold his business dealing with interior design (totally unrelated to food), and founded Ale-Gefen, specializing in stuffed vegetables (kosher pareve filings only) under the very pragmatic motto, “We cook for you.” There are people who enjoy cooking, but for others it is easier or more practical to look for products ready-made, particularly when preparation takes time.

Yaron knew nothing about stuffed vegetables. His neighbors spoke about traditional stuffed dishes. No one was in the business. He saw a niche and started operations in a house. Eighteen months ago he move into a formal commercial cooking complex with 23 employees.

If you decide to buy already prepared stuffed vegetables, how do you choose which product to purchase? Obviously, Yaron is proud of his own products, but he was generous in providing general advice to JT readers.

There are specifications printed on the commercial packaging, but there are unwritten criteria that must be taken into consideration.

Yaron explains that there is no substitute for home-style preparation. Stuffed vegetables in a can or jar have the connotation of army rations. Cooking vegetables such as beets in large commercial vats comes at a price in taste. A tour of his kitchen shows very clearly the home-style touch to his products --- pots no larger than those we all have at home. That information is never listed on a label.

There is a cardinal rule in buying any product. Read the label! Look for what is there and what is not there.

How are vegetables made ready for stuffing? Not all are cooked. Not all are used raw. To enhance taste some are steamed. The exact duration of steaming and the temperature are a secret of the kitchen and never revealed on the label. Success of the process is pragmatically revealed in the final taste.  

You should hopefully not see a list of preservatives seemingly coming out of a chemistry laboratory (sometimes politely hidden by seemingly innocuous EU ingredients codes). These come most often at the cost of quality and taste.

Canned grape leaves? Storage might be relatively convenient, but that is where advantage stops. Would you serve these at a dinner for guests? Probably not. The food really does not measure up to standard. The presence of preservatives is only part of the reason.

One commercial company issued a curious warning on its label. Although the company claims that it uses only canola oil, there was a notice that the product may contain soy. If there is no soy oil in the factory, why the warning?

Yaron’s products are all vegan, but the fillings vary. The basic ingredient is rice, but there are variations. If you are the do-it-yourself type, Yaron recommends Basmati rice, because of its round shape and tendency to stick to the vegetable. An alternative is Risotto that is also a good choice.

The rice has to be flavored, and here comes expertise. Spices are not enough. Parsley leaves are a good choice. Another option is shaving that have been scooped out from other vegetables. For example, carrot scrapings can be shredded and mixed into rice filling. The trick is to know which stuffing mixture best compliments which vegetable. Trial and error have concluded that squash and beets taste better with bulgur, and not with rice, though the rule is certainly not cast in iron.

Storage times for Ale Gefen products can be an excellent guideline even for the home cook, since no preservatives are used. Recommendations are that freshly prepared stuffed vegetables be kept under refrigeration for not more than five days. Otherwise, frozen vegetables can be kept for a year.

Preparation of stuffed vegetables at home is certainly an option, but Yaron Ben Yaish offers a very tempting alternative that takes the efforts out of preparing a meal.

This reviewer’s rating and that of his wife: Outstanding.

Not everyone is  the marketing area of Ale Gefen, but hopefully this blog will provide basic guidance for stuffed vegetable preparation.

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