It is an appetizing dish that we have been making since the first day we opened the restaurant in 1997 and while it is considered very common and quite easy, for us it is a big daily challenge because although the dolmades remind us  our mother’s or our grandmother’s  recipes,  at the same time we try to overcome them technically.

Ingredients:
– 4 onions julienne
– 2 cups of olive oil
– 1 cup of rice
– 120 vine leaves
– 2 cups of anise
– 1 cup of parsley
– salt and pepper
– 3 lemons

Preparation
Wash the vine leaves very well or, if they are fresh, boil them for 5 minutes. Chop the anise and the parsley. Put all the ingredients (rice, onions, anise, parsley, salt and pepper and 1 cup of oil) together and mix them well. Lay some wine leaves to the bottom of a casserole. Put a spoonful of the mixture to the middle of a leaf and wrap it well. Put the wrapped leaves into the casserole, one next to the other, with the edges to the bottom. Do the same for all leaves, putting one next to the other. When you finish, sprinkle some more salt and pepper, the lemon juices, the rest of the oil and some hot water, until all these cover the wrapped leaves. Put on top of them a big plate and boil them into a low temperature. Leave them to boil for about an hour, but in the meanwhile, check regularly if they need water. If they do need water, add some. At the end, only little water should be left. Dolmadakia are served cold or at a room temperature, mainly with yogurt or tzatziki.

TIP:This favorite classic appetizer dish is best combined with a white aromatic wine from the Cretan variety, Daphne or a Moschofilero from Mantineia