Cassian dolmadas

Grape leaves is a delicacy, which refers to the leaves of vegetables, flowers (cyclamen), plants (mallow) and vine leaves that are wrapped around a filling (of rice or cumin or both) and generally have a bite size. The word comes from Turkish filling, which means stuffed, and with the word dolma both the Turks and the Greeks of Asia Minor meant that it could be stuffed regardless of size and material. An example was santa claus dolmas, a New Year's meal, where the lamb was cooked stuffed with nuts, raisins, smoked onions, spices.

Dolmadas in many places are considered, because they are wrapped as the child is wrapped, that bring luck.

The rice, as the basis of the filling, was the content of the dolmadas, whether they were made from vine leaves, or from fresh cabbage, or from sauerkraut and boukovo (the salmadas or giaprakia of Macedonia), or from zucchini and cumin flowers (Crete), or from leaves and flowers of mallow, cyclamen (Rhodes), or in the famous dwarf kasiotika dolmadas.

The name "giaprakia»Comes from the Turkish word Υaprak which means leaf. In shape and way of cooking they are very similar to cabbage stuffing, as we know them all over Greece and many times they change names.

Cassian dolmadas stand out from the rest of Greece mainly from the fact that they are tiny. The smaller, the more worthy the Kasiotissa cook is considered.

Each vine leaf is cut in 3 and then the mixture of the contents is placed (minced meat, rice, chopped onions, parsley, dill, tomatoes in the grater, pine nuts). First the edges are turned inwards and then the dolmada is rolled into a roll, tightening inwards the edges to close the filling.

Dolmadas are made mainly at festivals (the largest of Agios Mamas) and on holidays and are made by the thousands in a skillful way by the skillful hands of women while the cooking and squeezing of dozens of lemons over dolmadas, in large "mantrokazana" (cauldrons built), was undertaken by men.