My Favorite Greek Appetizers

Greek cuisine offers tasteful dishes even for the fussiest eaters.

Some of the Greek specialties have become so popular, that they are now cooked in many places around the world. Here is the list of my favorite ouzo mezedes (appetizers which are best enjoyed with a glass of Ouzo). 

Stuffed vine leaves (Sarma or Dolmades gialantzi)

Stuffed grape leaves are popular dish across the Balkans. Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece - every one of these countries has own variety concerning the stuffing mixture. The two main categories concern the stuffing, which could be meat mixture or rice mixture. The meat varieties are eaten warm and the vegetarian ones - at room temperature. In Bulgaria this dish is called sarma or sarmi, which has Turkish origins - sarmak means 'to wrap' in Turkish. 

In Greece dolmades are part of the Meze platter, in Bulgaria Sarmi is a main dish. The stuffing includes different ingredients - rice, minced meat, pine nuts, raisins, mint and some others. The following recipe is a vegetarian version which includes lemon juice and mint. It could be served cold or warm and is good either ways.  In late spring and summer you can find fresh vine leaves, which should be first boiled for 5 minutes into a salted water.  Choose grape leaves that have very thin veins, which will make the taste less stringy. In February on the Balkans you can only use preserved vine leaves. So did I. This dish reminds me of summer, it is light and tasty. My only regret was I did not prepare twice as much.