Ever have a recipe whose name gets lost in translation?

My (great) Grandma Betty was Hungarian, and she used to cook a lot of traditional Hungarian dishes. My dad learned a lot of his recipes from her, which he made for us growing up (in addition to his General Tso, seitan, sake, and other very non Hungarian recipes). One of the dishes, cabbage with noodles, he called kropretzlach, and he still calls it that to this day.

Except when I was trying to find more information about this dish, I couldn’t find it anywhere.

Turns out there was some broken telephone going on, and the name kraut pletzel, or kraut pletzlach, got misheard as kropretzlach… (We actually have a similar story with my brother’s name, who ended up being named after what people thought my (great) Grampa Al’s name really was, but wasn’t actually his name…)

This dish has many names- kraut pletzel, haluski, kaposztas kocka, among other names… but in my mind, it’ll always be kropretzlach, mis-translation and all…

This food isn’t fancy food, nor is it very photogenic. It is, however, very simple and quick to make, and the ingredients are pretty cheap as well. This food to me is quintessential comfort food, with all the warm feelings and nostalgia and family history it evokes.

Hungarian Noodles and Cabbage Recipe- Kraut Pletzel, Haluski, Kaposztas Kocka- Gluten Free, Vegan Options

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil (or butter- it traditionally is made with butter, but my dad never made it with butter so that’s not how I do it. In addition to dairy not agreeing with me.)
1 medium onion
4 1/2 cups cabbage
1-3 teaspoon sweetener (coconut sugar, honey, sucanat, etc… or can be left out if desired)
1-2 teaspoons salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 1/2 cups cooked noodles (I use gluten free corn pasta, but any noodle works. Traditionally it was made with egg noodles, but I don’t do egg or gluten.)

Instructions:
1. Boil your noodles until soft. Strain.

2. Chop your onion. Saute until golden.

3. Chop your cabbage. Add to your onion, and saute until fully softened and starting to brown a little.

4. Add your sweetener, salt, and pepper.

5. Add your noodles.

6. Mix well.

7. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

I made this for lunch today and the kids loved it so much- they each had seconds and thirds. Good stuff, this is.

Ever hear of noodles and cabbage before? What was it called? Do you ever make it? Did you ever have it before?
Do you have any stories of names that were lost in translation over the generations?