Dolmades (or dolmadakias) are grape leaves stuffed with rice and sometimes meat. My grandfather grew a grapevine over our front terrace, and in time the vine grew thick and rich, dripping with clusters of green seedless grapes that we delighted in eating throughout the season. But more than the grapes were the grape leaves. My grandmother would periodically harvest a few choice tender leaves and would prepare dolmate which she filled with chopped vegetables and rice. They were delicious.
Ingredients
1 jar grape leaves 2 lbs. ground beef or lamb 1 cup raw rice or tabouli wheat 1 finely chopped onion 1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced 3 cups chicken broth 4 eggs (optional) Juice of 4 lemons Fresh parsley to taste Salt & Pepper to taste Preparation
In large bowl, mix the ground meat, rice, finely chopped onion, minced garlic, parsley, salt and pepper and mix well. Drain the grape leaves, and lay them out individually on a board. Begin to fill the grape leaves with about 1 tsp of the meat mixture, and roll them up like burritos. Lay the rolled up grape leaves snuggly in a large pot, and cover with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool a bit, then drizzle lemon juice all over, and serve. For a richer recipe, beat the eggs until frothy, add the lemon juice slowly while beating the eggs, then add some of the hot liquid to the egg mixture to temper, continuing to beat the eggs, and then drizzle the egg and lemon mixture over the dolmades and serve.
An icon of Israeli cuisine is the falafel. The West is familiar with falafel sandwiches, but falafel refers to balls of ground chickpeas deep fried and then stuffed into pita bread, topped with lettuce, tomato and tahini. Falafel can also be eaten as is, on a plate, accompanied by various other foods.
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