Sarma is special because the cabbage leaves are pickled, not fresh. Whole cabbages are stored in salty water for weeks, which makes the leaves slightly sour and very stretchy. Stretchy is important - they have to wrap up the filling without tearing.
Wrapping sarma is a family job. The cook makes a pile of filling and a pile of leaves on the table. Then everyone joins in: spoon a bit of filling onto the leaf, fold the sides in, roll it up tight. Some Serbian grandmothers can wrap one in less than ten seconds.
The rolls are stacked carefully in a deep pot with some smoked meat for extra flavour, and slow-cooked for several hours. The longer they cook, the better they taste. Sarma is usually eaten the day it is made - and is often even better the day after.
It is the favourite Christmas, New Year and 'slava' (family saint's day) food in Serbia. The smell of sarma cooking is one of those smells that means 'home' to most Serbian children. Many families eat it once a week in winter.