In fact, in every tavern, and certainly in a traditional Greek tavern, you will find dolmades (or dolmadakia, the diminutive form) among the starters. What is it? Of the dishes known to us Poles, it most resembles stuffed cabbage rolls, except that it has a vegan filling based on rice with onion, parsley and herbs, which is formed into neat oblong parcels using young grape leaves.
Although the roots of this dish are Turkish, it is now considered typically Greek, served cold, lightly drizzled with olive oil, but I have also eaten it warm with yoghurt to break up the flavour.
It is worth mentioning that during the season when they are available, courgette flowers are also stuffed with the same filling. It tastes like heaven and the chefs at To Stachi in Chania are masters at preparing them.
This reminds me of a little anecdote. Twenty years ago, I attended my first Greek language course. It took place in Warsaw, at the Olimp Society, and the classes were taught by Lefteris Tsirmirakis, who was already quite elderly at the time, but still full of vigour and wit. Our teacher found himself in Poland shortly after the war, fleeing the persecution that threatened all members of the Communist Party of Greece, especially the partisans. In Poland, he started a family, marrying a Polish woman. He was a great Greek patriot and tried to infect us with his fascination for his country of origin. He did this by sometimes bringing delicacies to class that he had grown up with in the Thessaloniki area. One day, he brought dolmadakia made by his Polish wife and was clearly proud that she knew how to prepare this typical Greek delicacy so well 🙂
