[Sca-cooks] 16th c. Safavid dulma-ye kalam (stuffed cabbage leaves)

[Stefan li Rous]

Kiri commented:
<<< There is a recipe in Dame Hauviette's "A Celebration at the Serayi" for a
period version of dolmas that does use grapevine leaves. She devised the
recipe from a 16th c. travel diary by a German visiting Turkey.  The
description of the dish in the diary is pretty specific, even to specifying
that "wine leaves" were used.  However, it does not use rice as one of the
ingredients but does describe how the leaves are wrapped around the filling
as well as the completed item being boiled in water. >>>

Thank you Urtatim and Kiri. We do have a few other period recipes using grape leaves but nothing exactly like modern dolmas. Yet.

For those interested in some other recipes we've discussed that are similar to dolmas:
grape-leaves-msg (31K) 12/24/04 Use of grape leaves in cooking. Sources.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/grape-leaves-msg.html

The closest recipe to what I think of as dolma is 17th C.

> The Receipt Book of Ann Blencowe. The manuscript carries a date of 1694, but Ann was
> born in 1656 and married in 1675. I suspect that this was compiled for one
> of her daughters upon a marriage

There is also some good info on choosing and prep'ing the grape leaves if you are thinking of making your own dolmas.

Stefan

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****