Recipe paraphrased from Claudia Roden's "Middle Eastern Cooking"

If using preserved grape leaves, remove from jar, put in a large bowl and cover with boiling water; let soak 20 minutes, then drain; soak in fresh water and drain again twice. (Note-I just soaked them a while in cold water. Perhaps a little salty, but okay)

Soak and stir rice in boiling water, and then rinse; drain thoroughly. In a bowl mix the rice with the tomatoes, onion, parsley, mint, cinnamon, allspice, and salt and pepper. Stuff leaves (method follows). Pack tightly into large pan lined with tomato slices or grape leaves, slipping garlic in between dolmas.

Mix olive oil with 1/2 cup water; add sugar and lemon juice and pour over stuffed grape leaves. Cover and simmer 2 hours, adding water as it is absorbed. Let cool in the pan; serve cold.

To stuff the leaves, put one on a plate face down (vein side up) with the bottom of the leaf toward you. Place a teaspoon of filling in the low center, above the stem (you'll see; trust me). Fold bottom up and ove the stuffing; fold sides over the middle, and roll up tightly away from you. It should look a bit like a hand-rolled cigar.

Apparently you can use fresh vine leaves; just pour hot water over them till they're cooked and flexible. Can I use the leaves from the wild grape vine in my backyard? On whom should I experiment?

by Michele Spainhour Rumohr <mrumohr@Herakles.Stuaffrs.Wayne.Edu> on Aug