Preserved grape leaves are a standard ingredient in many Mediterranean cuisines.  Greek dolmathes, those tasty little bundles of rice, herbs and spices wrapped in grape leaves, are perhaps the recipe best known to Americans.  But they are also great for wrapping meat and fish for grilling or for wrapping goat cheeses during aging. A warm, wet spring here has meant that our grapes have gone crazy, sending out tons of  vines and leaves that needed to be trimmed back to favor the development of grapes.  Fortunately, preserving grape leaves is quick and easy.  I easily fit 80 leaves in one liter jar, which should be plenty for this summer’s cooking.
By the way, I always assumed that the lemony flavor of dolmathes came from lemon juice added to the filling. But while working this recipe, I tried one of the fresh grape leaves and found it to have a distinctly lemony flavor all its own.  I cant wait to wrap up a nice piece of merlu or cod for the barbecue this summer!

Grape harvest has arrived! This year, we harvested almost three kilos of grapes from our three grapevines, not a ton, but plenty for the two of us. Enough that we have explored new culinary combinations with grapes: grapes as an apéro snack, grapes with roasted pork, grapes with charcuterie, grapes in smoothies…  Seasonal eating means that when something is ready to eat, you eat it till its gone!

Three years ago, when we tore out the invasive Virginia Creeper on a west facing stone wall in our yard, we discovered supports for grape trellises dating from the 70’s.  It only made sense to plant some grape vines. We selected an Italian table grape varietal that were recommended to us by the local nursery as one that grows well in our area.  I dont remember the name of the varietal, but our grapes have a distinctly muscat taste?