Coming from a multicultural family, I have always been intrigued
learning various dishes from my family. Not only that, I love to learn about
other cultures and their dishes. For instance, on my dad's side, he has a
half-sister who is of Palestinian descent and has shared many of her family
recipes with me. One of my favorite dishes that she has shared with my family
and I are stuffed grapevine leaves. When I was little, I was hesitant to try
this dish out for the first time. I found it odd and different eating a grape
leaf. It's funny how I didn't even know that it would become one of my favorite
dishes.
My aunt has
been teaching this recipe for as long as I can remember. I only ever make this
dish every once in a while when I visit my aunt. When we make this tasty dish,
my siblings, cousins, and I all work together with my aunt to cook it. I love
making grape leaves because it does require a lot of help in the kitchen, and
it's a way my family and I can talk to connect and catch up. I want to share
this recipe rather than a recipe from my own culture because it can be
interesting to learn about and explore other cultural food other than your own.
You can discover new things that you would have never thought you could ever
imagine liking. I recently visited my aunt last month, and she was glad to hear
that I was going to share this recipe. I recommend that you invite your friends
or family over if you are planning to make this dish. It requires more than one
person to make this dish which is another reason why I love it so much.
Spending time with those you love is very important. I hope that you all enjoy
this dish as much as I do.
Ingredients:
● 40-50 grapevine leaves
● 1 cup white rice (washed and
drained)
● ½ lb. ground beef
● 1 ½ tsp. Salt
● ¼ tsp. Pepper
● ½ tsp. Cinnamon
● 2 Tbsp. butter
● Water
● Juice of one lemon water
Tools needed:
● Large mixing bowl
● Measuring cups/spoons
● saucepan
Instructions:
●
The first step is to make sure if you bought grapevine
leaves preserved in a jar, you need to soak them in cold water for an hour and
replace the water several times. By soaking the leaves in water, it will help
to eliminate the extra salt on the leaves. If the leaves have been purchased
fresh, let them soak for ten minutes in hot water so that they can soften.
●
Next, you will get your large mixing bowl and mix your
white rice, ground beef, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and butter ingredients.
●
You would then lay a single grape leaf at a time on a flat
surface with the stem side facing you after mixing and put around a teaspoon of
the mixture you made just above the leaf stem. Then add another teaspoon of the
mixture if the leaves are larger. Be sure not to put too much mixture on the
leaf as it will cause the sides to seep out while cooking.
●
Once placing the mixture above the stem of the leaf, you
are going to roll it into sort of a hotdog shape. To do this, you will fold
both sides of the left and the right side of the leaf inward, then after that,
roll it forward. I kind of think of it as you are making a burrito if that
helps. You fold in both sides, then roll upwards. You also want to make sure
that you are rolling the grapevine leaves tightly and not loose.
●
After rolling up a grapevine leaf, you want to place it in
the saucepan. When making the grapevine leaf rolls, you want to put them in a
circular direction by first placing the stuffed grape leaves around the pot's
edge, making your way to the center. Once the first layer is done, you can
layer the rest of the stuffed grapevine leaves on top and repeat the same circular
process.
●
After all the stuffed grapevine leaves are in the pot, you
are going to sprinkle them with lemon juice and fill the pot with water until
the water is just above the top layer of the grape leaves.
●
Then you will bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the
heat and let it cook for forty-five minutes with the cover on until the leaves
are tender.
● Finally, they are ready to eat
after cooling.
