CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
I usually process grape leaves the end of May-early June for dolmas. Life kinda got away from me--I noticed that there are grapes starting to form. Is it too late to collect the grape leaves to freeze them for dolmas?
I know what I'm doing this afternoon <g>.
Now yo've got my mouth watering for some of Mom's cooking.
Growing up in an Armenian-American home, we called them dolma when vegetables like peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, etc were hollowed out and filled. When the filling was wrapped in cabbage or grape leaves, we called it sarma. Mom would make a mixed potfull of both. I believe the Greeks call them dolmates.
The season's behind--so the leaves are still not "too big" and they are still the "lighter" green. These are wild grape leaves, not cultivated. I typically freeze them for when I'm ready to use them. My mother used to buy them in jars, but I prefer to preserve my own.
That's basically what I do. I separate them with waxed paper.My mom used to blanch them in salt water before bundling them and freezing them.
That's basically what I do. I separate them with waxed paper.
...Andy - was your Armenian family displaced from Turkey before coming to the US? Dh was saying that sarma is a Turkish term meaning "wrap" and dolma means (in Turkish) something "stuffed" or "filled"...
No, they were driven out of Armenia and traveled around the region until they were able to manage coming over to America. My Armenian is a little rusty so I'll take your DH's word for the translations.