葡萄の葉を使った料理。農家を貧困にする農業政策とは何ぞや。養蚕をシンボルにしようとする時代錯誤キチガイが住む群馬。その活用法として桑の葉を人間の食材に使おうという官民協働の動きがある。まったく逆立ちした農政には恐れ入る。いくら貧しい養蚕農家であった我が家でも桑の葉を食べるなんて発想は浮かばなかった。食材に適するものだったら、他人から言われなくても、生活のために、もうすでに食卓に上がっていただろうに。桑の葉は腐る程あったが、人間様にはまったく無用であった。桑から頭を切り替えて、葡萄だったらどうか。桑畑を葡萄畑にするのである。これはすでに山梨とか、成功している事例があるので、まったく新しい考えを披露しているのではない。ただ群馬は山梨とは大きく違った道を歩んでいる。そのことに非常に興味を引く。話が逸れたが、地中海では葡萄の葉を使った料理がよくある。ここにその例として料理とレシピを転載した。葡萄は食卓に上がり、育てた家族の胃を肥やすばかりか、食べ切れなければ市場で売れる。オフシーズンのレーズンやワイン産業も生む。葡萄畑経営は農家にどれほど恩恵をもたらすか。ところが群馬の歴史は百姓一揆で血塗られた歴史。歴代の統治者は中央に媚びし、その体裁と権力の維持に頭を回すだけ。歴史的にも、まったく農家の生活はどうでもいいようだ。それが今の群馬の農政である。
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EthNYC Eats: Aunt Sofie’s Dolmades (Greek Stuffed Grape Leaves)
BY Julia Xanthos
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, March 22, 2016, 4:18 PM
Some family recipes can not be duplicated exactly. Measurements are mere suggestions and this is the case with my Aunt Sofie’s Dolmades. “I guess after all these years of doing it you automatically know by eyeballing it. You just know.” This is how Sofie Xanthos, 65, explains her cooking process from her kitchen in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
写真＝Sofie Xanthos and her granddaughter Emily Feinsilver, 5, prepared a batch of Dolmades in Brooklyn./Aunt Sofie delicious dolmades./Yiayia Anna Xanthos at her home in Kastania, Greece. Courtesy Xanthos Family
I’ve asked for the recipe to be written down and Aunt Sofie has explained it to me by saying “3 handfuls of rice,” “pour the oil for 3 seconds,” “enough broth to cover the top.” It’s nearly impossible to achieve the greatness that is this recipe but even harder to explain to my homesick brother Christopher who is currently living in Texas with his wife Annabelle. It was then decided that this recipe would be a perfect candidate for this week’s episode of EthNYC Eats.
The ingredients and amounts have changed over the years from when my Yiayia Anna Xanthos, initially passed the recipe down for the Greek delicacy years ago. Aunt Sofie has added a few bells and whistles of her own - for example adding a green pepper to simmer in the pot along with the beef broth saying, “it adds a kick.”
Recently I met up with Aunt Sofie at her home where she happily prepared a batch of her delicious dolmades. She had her 5-year-old granddaughter Emily Feinsilver to help in the process. When asked about sharing the recipe with her little sidekick she calls “Em,” Aunt Sofie said, “It’’s something that she can say my Yiayia taught me this and that makes me feel absolutely ecstatic. We did this together.”
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Ingredients
2 bunches finely chopped scallions
2 ½ - 3 lbs. chop meat
chopped parsley, mint, dill (a handful of each)
3 eggs
salt & pepper (to taste)
6 tablespoons olive oil (½ in meat mixture and ½ in broth)
3 lemons (½ juice to be used in meat mixture and ½ in broth)
3 handfuls of rice (Uncle Ben’s preferred)
1 jar of grape leaves
1 green pepper roughly chopped
32 oz. box beef broth
Instructions
1. In a large bowl mix the meat, finely chopped parsley, mint, dill, 3 eggs, olive oil poured for 3 counts (about 3 tablespoons), juice of 1 ½ lemons, and 3 handfuls of rice (enough to coat the top layer of mixture.)
2. Drain the jar of grape leaves juice into the sink and gently place leaves into a pan adding just enough water to cover all of them. Cook on a medium heat and once the water begins to boil flip the leaves over using 2 spoons. When the water begins to boil again take of heat quickly. Rinse leaves under cold water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled place leaves into a large plate.
3. Fill each grape leaf with a small handful of the meat mixture and place each rolled up dolmades into a large pot lining them into a circular manner. You should be able to have 2 layers of stuffed grape leaves when completed.
4. Into the large pot add the roughly chopped green pepper, 1 box of beef broth which contents should cover all the dolmades - if not add a little water to do so, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, juice from 1 ½ lemons, salt & pepper to taste.
5. Using a heatproof Pyrex plate be sure to cover the contents of the pot to avoid the stuffed grape leaves bursting while cooking.
6. Cook on a medium heat for 45 minutes up to an hour.
7. Turn off heat, remove heatproof plate carefully, and allow to cool a bit before tasting.
