Stuffed leaves
| Type | Dolma |
|---|---|
| Course | main course |
| Region or state | Ottoman Empire · Eastern Mediterranean |
| Serving temperature | hot or cold |
| Main ingredients | cabbage leaves or vine leaves, rice, mince meat |
| Variations | With cabbage leaves or vine leaves, minced meat and rice filling (served hot) |
Stuffed leaves—more commonly known by its sub-types stuffed grape leaves, stuffed vine leaves, or stuffed cabbage leaves—are a food made of leaves rolled around a filling of minced meat, grains such as rice, or both. It is occasionally known in the English-speaking world by its Turkish name, sarma, which, as a dish of the Ottoman Empire, is also used in Armenian and some Eastern European languages. Since the Ottoman Empire's dissolution, its popularity persists in Turkish, Persian, Greek, Romanian, Iraqi, Levantine, Egyptian, former Yugoslav constituent states, and Armenian cuisines.
Wrapped leaf dishes are part of the broader category of stuffed dishes known as dolma, and they have equivalents (such as the Polish gołąbki) in Eastern European cuisines from the northern Baltic through Romania. The type of leaves used commonly includes cabbage, patience dock, collard, grapevine, kale, or chard leaves.