Wild grape leaves ideas, please

This is a boom year for wild grapes in this area. The trees are so covered it looks like kudzu. They don't put out usable fruit, pea sized and the birds eat them all. But oooh, there are a lot of leaves!!

I know dolmas are wrapped in grape leaves, so I just tasted one: ok tasting, a bit sour, left a squeaky feeling in my mouth. This can be worked with. Not something I'd stir fry up a big batch of for dinner though (unlike the violet leaves, which are excellent, and I'm using as my base greens this year, since any greens I have tried to grow died of bugs of various sorts.)

Any ideas of other ways they get used? Got a LOT to play with!!  Seriously. Looks like kudzu this year. Always have some, but this is absurd. It's June, and plants that were cut to the ground last fall look like they have had two full growing years. Never seen them cover the trees.

Suggestions would be VERY welcome!! :D

I love stuffed cabbage so I bet those leaves would be great to substitute for the cabbage.

Grape leaves can be used in pickling to hold everything underwater.

I am looking forward to how other would use the grape leaves.

Anne is right, stuff cabbage or I think we called them quimpkies (spelling) when I was growing up. Must be some Greek recipes that use grape leaves as well.

My Bulgarian neighbour makes wonderful stuffed vine leaves! I need to get her recipe. Here's a Greek one for preserving the vine leaves that also links to a recipe https://realgreekrecipes.com/how-to-preserve-grape-leaves-in-brine/. A lot of her recipes look like my neighbours Bulgarian food!

How are the grape leaves used in pickling, especially keeping pickles crisp?

Grape leaves have lots of tannin, so you might not want to go too crazy eating them. I'm not sure if cooking leaches it out much or not. They can be used as a source of tannin for things like pickling and wine making. I have a book that says many grape vines make better wine from the leaves than from the grapes.

Jordan Holland wrote:They can be used as a source of tannin for things like pickling and wine making. I have a book that says many grape vines make better wine from the leaves than from the grapes.

I wonder what would happen if you made the wine, then made a wine vinegar out of it? Tell us more please.

I do suspect the tannin is why they tell you to put a grape leaf in pickles to keep them crisp, as was mentioned above. The recipe from Jane above mentions several soakings and changings of water, so that suggests to me it can be leached out. Certainly the tannin in acorns is leached by using lots of water.

I found it. The book is First Steps in Winemaking by C.J.J. Berry. He writes it from a British winemaking background, so focuses on a great deal of country wines rather than fancy grape wines. He is quite adamant about the quality of the vine trimmings.

Those of you who are growing vines - and all amateur winemakers should, or they miss a great deal of fun and enjoyment - will have not only grapes (in September) but, throughout the summer, a plentiful supply of vine prunings and leaves as the growing vines are cut back to ensure the maximum nutrition goes into the bunches of grapes. Do not waste these prunings and leaves; they will make excellent wine! Cut only the green shoots and not ripe wood or the vine will 'bleed'.

The name for it he gives is "Folly wine," after the bastardization of the French "feuille" (leaf).

4 lbs. vine trimmings
2 1/4 lbs. sugar
1 tsp. citric acid
1 gal. water
yeast and nutrient

Simple recipe. Pour boiling water over the leaves. Let stand 48 hours and turn occasionally (I wonder about weighting them or something to keep submerged instead.) Pour off liquid and press leaves. Wash leaves with a pint of fresh water and press again. Dissolve the sugar and add yeast and nutrient, then pour into fermenting vessel and fit airlock. He does not specify how long to age this as he usually does. He just says, "ferment right out in the usual way and siphon off when clear." However, in the recipe for oak or walnut leaf wine, he says to rack when it clears and again two months later, but still no suggestion on how long to age it. Perhaps being such a simple wine it may not need much maturation after it clears.

Jay Angler wrote:I wonder what would happen if you made the wine, then made a wine vinegar out of it? Tell us more please.

I do suspect the tannin is why they tell you to put a grape leaf in pickles to keep them crisp, as was mentioned above. The recipe from Jane above mentions several soakings and changings of water, so that suggests to me it can be leached out. Certainly the tannin in acorns is leached by using lots of water.

Yes, I believe that is the case with the tannin, and Anne's suggestion takes it one step further function stacking a mechanical use with the tannin for crispness.

As far as I know, any wine can be made into vinegar. I wouldn't expect it to have a bold taste like a malt vinegar or red wine vinegar, maybe closer to a rice vinegar with a little more bite.

I find the tendrils and stems to have a lemony taste.
Th leaves taste pretty bad to me, and im a guy who loves kale, collard and mustard greens.
Dehydrating the leaves seems to improve the flavor quite a bit.

Several thoughts this morning...
Link to the wreaths I'm making out of the vines
Making Grapevine Wreaths  in the Decor forum of the Art category

I made a thread a few years back looking for ideas for making sushi nori out of things I can grow here   Making substitutes for sushi nori
After reading a bit about how they make dolmas, I'm going to try making sushi wrappings out of grape leaves.

The stuff I've seen (I need to read a bit more) looks like they are rolled into leaves that can be bought in jars, canned up in salty water. Well now. I can do that. If they work I'll can some up for later use. I'm planning to try putting a neat stack of leaves in a pan of water, bring it to a boil, pour it off then cover with salted water and bring back up to a boil. I think if I take leaves done like that, I can lay a few layers out on my sushi mat, overlapping to get full coverage of the size I want, and roll the whole thing up with my rice/grains and veggie mix.

Has anyone tried this? Any advice?

Leaves are on their salty second boiling.
Wish me luck! :D

Well Pearl, how'd the sushi turn out?

Sorry, had forgotten to reply :)
Nope. The leaves I chose were too big/old. I cooked them etc, tasted them, said "Bleah!" and used nori.
BUT.
The best time to experiment with things is NOT when it's your only option. So I call it a win. I'll find smaller/younger leaves next time.

Pearl Sutton wrote:The best time to experiment with things is NOT when it's your only option. So I call it a win. I'll find smaller/younger leaves next time.

At least in my area, the grape vines keep putting out new leaves, so it might not be too hard to try again?

It seems like every time I take my eyes off my grape vine by the front porch it's either trying to get into the garage door, the front door, or block the front pathway...

I believe it's traditional to ferment them in brine (you roll up a pile of leaves into a little cigar, and stand a bunch of the cigars vertically in a jar of brine for a duration).
Maybe they're parboiled first.
I believe that softens them as well as preserving them, so you can make dolmades in the winter when you have time.
I also use them as a pot herb for broth. Not a lot, but good mixed with random soup greens to strain out, instead of lemon.
You could probably dry them and powder them and mix with salt for a sour salt, if you like that sort of thing. Or maybe even just put them in the food processor with salt and then dry it out together.

Grape leaves have amazing medicinal properties and you can feed them to your goats, sheep or rabbits too!  Make them into a tea.