Woolworths Dolmades Traditional

Woolies Homebrand Dolmades versus Always Fresh Dolmades – How to make an exotic looking finger food snack? Ingredients: -1 cup of long-grain rice -1/2 cup of minced onion -1/4 cup of minced fresh parsley -1/4 cup of minced fresh mint -2 tablespoons of lemon juice -2 tablespoons of olive oil -1 teaspoon of salt -1/2 teaspoon of black pepper -20-30 large grape leaves -Lemon wedges (optional, for serving) Instructions:

Rinse the rice and place it in a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Boil until tender, then drain and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice, onion, parsley, mint, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Lay a grape leaf shiny side down and place a spoonful of the rice mixture near the stem end. Roll the stem end over the filling, tucking in the sides as you go, to form a compact cylinder. Repeat the process with the remaining grape leaves and filling. Arrange the stuffed grape leaves in a large pot. Pour in enough water to just cover the leaves. Add a few lemon wedges, if desired. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve the dolmades hot or at room temperature, with lemon wedges on the side, if desired

Well that is too much effort so we suggest buying 3 or 4 of the readily available canned product. We have tried 3 brands of canned Dolmades, we will compare two of them here.

Dolmades from Always Fresh can be purchased in a 280g can at Woolies on special for $4.90. It used to be a product of Turkyie, but now it is sourced from China.

In the next shelf we find Dolmades from Woolies in-house brand. It is available in a 280g can for $4.00 It is a product of Greece.

What is in a name? We thought Always Fresh sounded promising, but we also purchased the cheaper Woolies option as a fun taste test.

Our first taste test was very tightly wrapped and the ingredients were dry.The leaf was tough. It was easy to hold, so perfect for finger food, but the dryness required it is dipped in the mixture of herb flavoured oils that is in its can. Unfortunately the oil tasted old and greasy on the tongue. We dipped it in Greek style yoghurt to get neutralise the greasy tongue. We also dipped it in tomato sauce and used a bit of lemon juice.

The second taste test was less tightly wrapped which allowed some flavours from the herb infused oil to penetrate the inside ingredients. It was moist enough to eat without dipping, but we also dipped in the smoother lighter oil, the yoghurt and we also dipped in tomato sauce and used some lemon juice.

The better product (the second taste test) was the Woolies Homebrand Dolmades.

As a finger food snack, they are both a bit pricey, but the Woolies get the 4 stars and the Always Fresh gets a low 3 stars.