Who else loves baklava and dolmades? Anybody else MAKE them? For the first time in a decade on the homestead I'm making a big effort to use EVERYTHING. So after we gobbled up all the grapes this summer I harvested the softest of the vine leaves. And did another one of, what FarmerBuckaroo, calls my science experiments. Canning is not one of my projects of choice. They are easy enough but extremely time consuming. Pickling grape vine leaves is no exception. But the proof will be in the tasting when we make our very own Karoo style Dolmades stuffed with savoury rice, herbs and roast nuts. Oh, and a good squeeze of fresh lemon! Yum
To get started I picked 100 grape leaves. You have to make sure there are no little critters hiding in the leaves and rinse well.
Stack the leaves in piles of about 10. Half fill a big pot with water - about 4 litres - and bring to the boil, adding a tablespoon of salt.
Once boiling keep the water on simmer and carefully pop in one pile of grape leaves at a time. You need to poach them for about a minute, on either side. Flip after the first minute for even poaching.
Then pop them into a bucket of iced water to preserve the colour and stop the cooking process. The leaves will lose their deep green colour and become khaki in colour. Once all your piles are poached and chilled mix the brine.
PICKLED GRAPE LEAF BRINE:
100 Grape Vine leaves
2 - 3 cups of filtered water
1/3 cup Bottled Lemon (not fresh)
1/3 cup Salt
Sterilized canning jar and string.
Once your leaves are poached, fold the edges of each pile over to make a neat and uniform "cigar" roll. Then tightly roll each pile and carefully tie them with pieces of string. Pop into your brine. When you are ready for a Greek meze party make your Dolmades!
Cultural dishes are special because of their history as well as their signature flavour. I love sampling different foods that sets each country and culture apart. Baklava and Dolmades are probably two of my favourite Greek foods. Every year on the homestead we enjoy a bumper crop of grapes but this year has been all about foraging and not wasting a thing that can be eaten or used as natural medicine. Dolmades are our new favourite foraged food!
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we grew up, outside the City of Boston, on the East Coast US. My Yia Yia (Greek Grabdmother) would scream and make my dad stop the car, whenever she saw Grape Leaves growing, didnt matter if it was a small road, or major highway. We picked and picked, and then, later, she would make Dolmades. Mind you, at times she was making a dozen huge trays of 50 or more grape leaf rolls. Whether for the Church, or big family functions, she was always baking. AND in her backyard, my Papou (Grandfather) grew a huge Grape Leaf trellis.
What a special memory! Minus the screaming part ;) I think it is the old folk who know the recipes and the history behind them that we should learn from. I bet your Yia Yia made the best dolmades. I lived in the US back in the 90's. About an hour from Boston in Georgetown MA. Beautiful part of the world
Ahhh, Georgetown!I have a Craft Fair I do in Nov. selling my photography around the corner, in Newbury! Plus I am in Rowley, or Plum Island at least once a month fomr some photo trips! It is INDEED a Beautiful part of the world!
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Super interesting. I never knew that vine leaves can be eaten. Something I wish I could try at least once in my life. Awesome post.
It is surprising how much is edible that we toss away, even the leaves of things like beetroot and carrot make amazing salad.
Awesome! And now you're making us wait for the final recipe of the dolmades, right? Not very nice of you, buckaroobaby 😜 😇. But you know that I'll be here waiting (im)patiently!
Don't worry .... I am waiting just as impatiently! Time just doesn't allow for further dolmades experiments at the moment
I never heard of it, I have to try it out! 🙏👌