Cooking with Leaves

For Greek dolmades, vine leaves are filled with rice seasoned with dill and lemon and served cold with lemon juice or warm with avgolemono sauce. Turkish dolmas may be filled with rice and meat mixed with raisins and nuts, while Lebanese mashi are flavored with mint and served with a yogurt sauce. In parts of France, odds and ends of cheese are baked in vine leaves for a fresh-tasting snack on country bread. Vine leaves are also wrapped around small game birds and fish to keep them moist, cut into strips to add to salads, or used to line a platter of fruit or cheese.