If you’ve only ever eaten grapevine leaves as dolmades, you’ll be surprised to learn that those tangy grape leaves add luxurious flavor to a variety of other dishes.
You’re lucky if you have access to a green, growing grapevine in the spring, when you can pick the fresh leaves and process them at home. It’s easy enough. Just a matter of blanching them briefly in boiling water, then cold. You’ll have the satisfaction of successful foraging.
But say you have a yen for stuffed grape leaves and it’s way past the season for picking. You can forage the leaves, already preserved in brine, at your local grocery store. Here’s our Iraqi Stuffed Grape Leaves recipe for starters.
Keep a jar of grape leaves in the pantry for inspiration. Go vegan, or not. Choose to wrap cheese, or mushrooms, or fish in grapevine leaves. We’re offering you the first in a series of grape vine leaf-inspired recipes to brighten meals any time: grilled fish in vine leaves, then dipped in a spicy-hot, herby sauce. The fish is marinated for an hour in a coriander-based chermoula dressing.
Grilled Fish in Grapevine Leaves With Sweet and Sour Chilli Sauce
Fish wrapped in grapevine leaves and grilled, served with a spicy sauce.
For Fish:
- 30 vine leaves in brine
- 4-5 firm white fish fillets (such as haddock, snapper, grouper)
Chermoula:
- 1 Small bunch of fresh coriander leaves
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 4 Tblsp olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt
Dipping Sauce:
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar or lemon juice
- 1/2 cup superfine sugar or 1/2 cup plus 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1-2 Tblsp water
- Pinch saffron threads
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 3 scallions (finely sliced)
- 1 oz. Fresh grated ginger root
- 2 hot chillies (seeded and finely sliced)
- Small bunch fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped)
- Small bunch fresh mint (finely chopped)
- Process the chermoula ingredients in a food pr0cessor or blender. Pour into a large bowl.
- Rinse the vine leaves, then soak in cold water to remove most of the brine.
- Cut fillets into eight bite sized pieces.
- Marinate the fish pieces in the chermoula for 1 hour.
- Heat the vinegar or lemon juice, sugar and water. Stir until sugar dissolves.
- Boil one minute, then cool.
- Add the remaining ingredients; blend.
- Drain the vine leaves and pat dry.
- Lay a leaf flat on the work surface. Place a piece of marinated fish in the center.
- Fold the edges of the leaves over the fish. Make a parcel by wrapping with extra leaves.
- Repeat until all the fish pieces are wrapped in the leaves.
- Thread the parcels onto kebab skewers. Brush with any leftover marinade.
- Heat the broiler to the highest setting.
- Cook the kebabs 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Serve hot with the chilli dipping sauce.
Note: the chilli sauce is also wonderful with our chicken-stuffed mulberry leaves, which our editor Karin kitchen-tested and loved.)
Recipe and photo from Recipes From A Moroccan Kitchen by Ghillie Bașan.
