Dolmades or Koupepia (as we call them in Cyprus) are made from grape leaves (also known as vine leaves) and are stuffed with rice, ground pork or beef, fresh herbs and seasonings. I’ve been revisiting all the Greek traditional recipes over the past year and have been substituting pork or beef minced meat with turkey …
Vine leaves
This Greek roasted pork (or lamb) is stuffed with bacon, halloumi, feta, as well as other ingredients then it is wrapped in vine leaves and baked in the oven with potatoes.
Koupepia Gialantzi are a traditional Cypriot dish, commonly known as stuffed vine leaves. They are similar to the Greek dish dolmades but are vegan with only rice and herbs.
Vine leaves or grape leaves are the leaves from the grapes used for making wine or the grapes we eat.
The best period to get the vine leaves is when they first appear, during April – May, when they are fresh and tender and before they are sprayed with pesticide.
Dolmades me Avgolemono (dol-MAH-thes mé Avgolémono) , are vine leaves stuffed with ground meat and rice which are then served with an egg lemon sauce, called avgolemono (avgo = egg and lemoni = lemon).
Koupepia (as we call them in Cyprus) are dolmades made with grape leaves, stuffed with ground pork or veal, rice, fresh herbs and seasoning, cooked with tomato and lemon juice.