The Polish of this world have made Galumpky almost synonymous with Cabbage Rolls, but I knew them as Kapusta, which is the Slovak word for the same thing. Of course the recipes might vary wildly. In my mother’s Slovak World Congress cookbook, there were no less than six different recipes for cabbage rolls. The point is that wrapping meat in a sturdy, boiled leaf has broad appeal, and should not be claimed by any one ethnicity. No matter who made the cabbage roll, the gas you pass later on will smell just as bad as that produced by someone else’s cabbage roll.
Possibly the greatest contribution ever made to the popularity of cabbage rolls was made by the Schmenge Brothers, the famous Leutonian Polka Band on SCTV. Stan and Yosh were both tireless and selfless in their gratitude for the cabbage rolls made by one of their loyal fans, and mentioned it in every episode. And the coffee.
On the other hand, cabbage rolls have never gone mainstream; if they had, you’d be able to get them at the county fair—deep fried and served on a stick—but cabbage rolls nevertheless.