Gurme212 Premium Turkish Grape Leaves 32 oz

Here is the story: I have been raised being told ‘you need to get small grape leaves to wrap dolmas’ as the bigger the leaves get the thicker and harder it gets. You need to cook larger leaves longer and it still won’t be as good.It is though indeed tricky to use small leaves. You need to put a minimum amount of stuffing and wrap it real tight to make more space to be able to wrap it all the way etc. Well… These Gurme grape leaves are a game changer: I was surprised to see their almost linen size comfort - obviously exaggerated:) but they do put a smile on your face. I dumped in triple the amount of filling if not more and it was still comfortable to roll and wrap. Lots of space for error; these leaves cover your back. And best of all they are still as thin as those mini mini small leaves! One quick note: there are lots of leaves in three main batches. One batch is more than enough for a dinner for two three if you put generous amounts of the filling just because you can!:) so keep the jar do not drain the water out put back the extra batches in the jar until next use - it is easier to get two or three batches out at once to make sure they are not damaged if you are making intricate moves in the jar. One important note: make sure to rinse the leaves that you use - some leaves might have powder left in between which will increase the salt concentration of your dolmas if not rinsed. Just rinse it off - some people let the whole batch stay in water for a while… whatever works for you.And then enjoy the proud feeling of wrapping better and more delicious dolmas than ever! Bon Appetit!

UPDATE: I DID NOT GET THE SAME GRAPE LEAVES AS WHAT IS ADVERTISED BY THE SELLER Basil Grocery LLC (i.e. Gurme 212 Premium Turkish Grape Leaves). On my second order they switched the brand; and after 50 years of making stuffed grape leaves I know that not all grape leaves are created equal and I wasn't about to find out the had way that the switched grape leaves weren't as good. I WILL NOT BUY FROM THIS SELLLER AGAIN. HOWEVER, the brand I first reviewed I'll leave the review and if you can get them SOMEWHERE ELSE I WOULD RECOMMEND IT. REVIEW; I like to make stuffed grape leaves. They come in four rolls and are easy to remove without tearing the leaves. They’re in very good condition and not soggy. You will have to trim some of the veins on the larger leaves otherwise you will choke on them later while eating because they’re too big to soften up; there was maybe six or so that needed their main vein trimmed and not a big deal. Now I know why my grandmother told me to trim the veiny ones. I made 57 stuffed grape leaves, you do have to use two and sometimes three leaves but in 50 years that’s what I’m used to. The flavor is outstanding and addicting; reminds me of the old Lays potato chip commercial I bet you can’t eat one. I have to admit that I think these are the best leaves yet. I’m buying them again without hesitation.

Very good priduct

I bought these leaves to try making dolmas for the first time. A few of the leaves had holes but the holes were either able to be worked around or small enough to patch up with the smaller leaves or parts of other torn leaves. The couple of unworkable torn leaves could be added to pilaf or something similar for added texture if you don't have it in you to actually roll anything up that day. The majority of the leaves were in excellent condition. They were a bit hard to remove from the jar initially, but with a bit of work, you can get one of the bundles out, and the others quickly follow. Most of them are quite large, they roll well, cook well, and they're very tender once done. Dolmas tasted excellent, only issue was that I overstuffed them a bit, but that's an issue with the cook, not the product.Only noteworthy issue is the price. I love Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food, but I live in a rural area with no access to a lot of the ingredients. A store in the city carries grape leaves for around $4-6 depending on the brand, but I ordered these for the sake of convenience and paid double the price for them.

We make dolma every year for Christmas. I always ordered a different brand but decided to try these. They are nice sizes and very few torn. I will be switching to this brand from now on.

There were many large leaves in the only jar that I did open. And many more leaves than I expected overall. However, there were some that were too small or damaged too badly for me to use. Maybe about 20% were unusable. The packaging brine wasn't so salty that I had to presoak the leaves before rolling my dolmas. But, they were tough enough that you'll need to cook at least 50 minutes at 350° to get them tender. For the price, I don't mind the small amount of smaller or torn leaves.

First thing I noticed about these grape leaves was 2-3" of stem was left on each leaf. As that was easy enough to nip off with my fingernails, I didn't think too much of it, until I realized that these stems were puncturing the leaves as I rinsed them. There were a lot of rather large leaves, probably a little bigger than necessary, and due to the size the rolls of leaves were wrapped around each other every which way. Separating them was impossible without some tearing, and a very good number of them were already torn and mangled beyond usefulness. In a stuffed grape leaves recipe that should have used a single jar of leaves or maybe one jar and a roll of leaves from another, I used 2 full jars and still have some meat filling left over. The photo shows the amount of leaves far too torn to use, the grape vine tendril debris folded in with the leaves, and the ridiculous amount of stem left over. We probably ultimately only were able to use half of each jar. I've never seen leaves this awful, and certainly won't buy again.

I’ve tried all brands of jarred grape leaves. These are flimsy and difficult to roll. There is a significant amount of waste. I only go with Orlando’s now. If I can pick them off the vine .. now those are the best to use