Sarma (Turkish for wrapped; Cyrillic spelling: Сарма), commonly marketed in the English-speaking world as stuffed grape leaves, stuffed vine leaves, or stuffed cabbage leaves, is a food in Southeastern European and Ottoman cuisine made of vegetable leaves rolled around a filling of grains (such as rice), minced meat, or both. The vegetable leaves may be cabbage, patience dock, collard, grapevine, kale or chard leaves. Sarma is part of the broader category of stuffed dishes known as dolma.
Terminology and etymology
Sarma is a Turkish word meaning 'wrapped'.
Sarma made with grape leaves are called () or () in Turkish, yabraq (يبرق) in Arabic, () in Azerbaijani, and (, ) in Persian and waraq 'inab (ورق عنب) or waraq dawālī (ورق دوالي) in Arabic. In Assyrian it is called ܦܪܵܟܼܹܐ (prakhe) which refers to the fact that the rice is rubbed in the grape leaves. In Armenian, they are called մսով տերեւափաթաթ (missov derevapatat), տերեւի տոլմա (derevi dolma) and տերեւի սարմա (derevi sarma). In Greek they are generally called ντολμάδες (dolmades) but may also be known as γιαπράκια (yaprakia), γιαπράκια γιαλαντζί (yaprakia yalandzi), ντολμαδάκια (dolmadakia), ντολμαδάκια γιαλαντζί (dolmadakia yalandzi), σαρμάδες (sarmadhes), or σαρμαδάκια (sarmadhakia).
In Bulgarian, Macedonian and Romanian, cabbage and grapevine leaves are not usually differentiated.
Stuffed chard leaves are called pazı dolması in Turkey and dolmas de pazi by Sephardi Jews who settled in Argentina.
Background
A grapevine leaf roll is a dish consisting of cooked grapevine leaves wrapped around a variety of fillings. Stuffed vine leaves without meat are sometimes called yalancı dolma, which means "liar's dolma" in Turkish. Vişneli yalancı dolması is a variation of stuffed vine leaves where the rice is seasoned with cinnamon, allspice, and mint. The dolmas are slowly cooked together with morello cherries (vişne), and plums may be used also.
Vine leaves may also be used to wrap stuffed celery root. Before wrapping, the celery root is stuffed with rice that has been seasoned with cinnamon, salt, pepper, allspice, pine nuts, and sugar (this type of rice is called iç pilav). Dried fruits like fig and apricot may be added to the rice mixture before the celery root is stuffed, wrapped, and baked in the oven. Some variations may include quince.
Regional and national variants
Albania
In Albania, sarme is cigar-shaped and is often made in the northern regions, but can be found all through. It is typically made of cabbage or grape leaves and filled with meat, rice, and spices. It can be served with yogurt or a yogurt-based drink. It can be a meal for special occasions or during the winter. In southern Albania, a lemon slice can be added while cooking the stuffing.
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, besides the two main rolled varieties—cabbage sarma (usually eaten in winter) and vine sarma (in spring and summer)—there is also a layered variety called drob sarma (дроб сарма, literally 'liver sarma'). Drob sarma is a dish of finely chopped offal (liver and lung), rice, browned onions, herbs, baked in an oven, and after a while covered with a mixture of eggs and yoghurt and baked again. The dish may be covered or even wrapped in fat netting before being baked. All sarma dishes can be served with fresh yoghurt on the side.
Croatia
In Croatia sarma is common throughout the country though there are regional variations. Sarma is always a meat dish. Croatian sarma is filled with a combination of beef and pork and rice and the sarma is always wrapped in sauerkraut leaves. In some regions, cabbage leaves are used. There are many regional variations. Sinjski arambašići, from Sinj, is ground beef wrapped in sauerkraut leaf with no grains and no pork. Sarma is a winter staple and is also traditionally served on New Year's Eve. In Croatia, sarma are eaten with mashed potatoes, bread, corn bread, sour cream, or even a special horseradish sauce. The horseradish relish is a combination of horseradish mixed with sour cream, mayonnaise, salt, and apple cider vinegar that helps give the sarma an extra kick in flavor.