Whether you’ve publicly articulated it or not, everyone’s got a ‘death row dish’ in the back of their minds. Often referred to as a ‘last meal’, this is essentially the dish you’d request should you ever find yourself in an unhappy situation warranting a cruel and unusual planned death.

Initially, you’d think the ‘last meal’ would be something extravagant – abalone dipped in gold flakes or a lobster frittata (Sydney institution Buon Ricordo’s famous Fettuccine al Tartufovo has certainly got my vote if we’re going down this road) – but the most requested dishes from death-row inmates are actually comfort foods. A study by Cornell University found a keen focus on fried chicken, fries and burgers in particular.

Maybe it’s because I’m morbid, but I’ve always maintained my death-row dish would be dolma and not just any old dolma (because there are myriad ways you can stuff a vegetable), but yaprak sarmasi or stuffed grape leaves. Again, not the zeytinyağlı (olive oil) vegetarian version with raisins, but the thick, meaty kind drowned in garlic yoghurt. In a perfect world, my dad would be the one making the dish because not only does that put the comfort in comfort food (the familiar spices and herbs don’t hurt either), but nobody makes them like him.

Yoghurt and stuffed vine leaves are an appealing combination.

When I was a child, some of my best memories involve watching my dad roll the vine leaves we’d earlier collected from our back garden (best pictured to the sound of horse racing which was always blaring in the background). Well over six foot, he has the hands of a giant so the dolma themselves would be supersized and overstuffed so that five of them could reasonably constitute a meal. “You’re supposed to roll them tighter!” my mum would scream from behind her sewing machine. “They’re going to unravel while you cook them!” Dad would simply grin at me as he made them even bigger. Challenge accepted.

I’ve always maintained my death-row dish would be dolma and not just any old dolma (because there are myriad ways you can stuff a vegetable), but yaprak sarmasi or stuffed grape leaves.

When your father is the master of making yaprak sarmasi, you are set up for a lifetime of olive-hued disappointments; no other dolma can even get close to the magic you can enjoy in your own home. Clearly, rather than relying on other people’s kitchens – and nimble hands capable of making tight and tiny versions – I was going to have to learn to make it dad’s way myself. Dad, of course, was only too happy to hand over the hours of rolling duties to the next generation.

Good things come in leafy packages.

Now that I’ve spent the last 20 years making dad’s dolma, here’s what I know:

Now you’re ready to enjoy your meal to the soothing sounds of your loved ones disapproving of your life choices. Afiyet olsun!

Wrap stars Sogan dolma (Stuffed onions) This savoury recipe uses the natural sweetness of onions to encase a savoury mince and rice filling.  My mother's dolma This Assyrian Iraqi variation is made with meat and will serve a family of six people as a main dish.  The grape leaves and a variety of vegetables are all stuffed with the same mixture and then cooked together in one large pot. Stuffed vine leaves Also known as dolmades, these flavourful little roll-ups of spiced ground beef and vine leaves are popular as a snack and a side in Greece.  Istanbul hawker rice-stuffed mussels (midye dolma) This Turkish recipe from Somer Sivrioglu is a moreish way to get more from your mussels. First, prepare cracked rice with pimento, pine nuts, tomatoes and raisins, then stuff your mollusc friends! Food Safari Water Dolma raised me It was the stuff of my childhood and my large family dinners - I'll always be thankful for stuffed vegetables. Dolmades with tzatziki (stuffed vine leaves) A smaller dolmade is better, or safer as there is less chance of the filling exploding. These are very easy to make, but set aside time to roll them neatly. I like to use both pork and beef in my filling, as well as pine nuts. Apricot and walnut dolmas This traditional dish is from Erzurum, in eastern Anatolia, where they stuff it with walnuts. I’ve reduced the amount of syrup and boosted the stuffing with apricots. It uses the crunchy "string" pastry called Kadayıf, which means there are interesting texture contrasts between the inside and the outside. Dolmades This recipe for dolmades is inspired by Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market, where a large proportion of traders are of Greek origin. Spiced burghul wrapped in vine leaves (yaprak sarma) What we call stuffed vine leaves, dolma, in the UK are thought of as wrapped vine leaves, sarma, in Turkey. Dolma is only used as a term to describe things which are stuffed in Turkish-like hollowed out courgettes (zucchini) or tomatoes, or even stuffed squid. Whatever you’d like to call them, these vine leaves, filled with bright red, slightly fiery burghul (bulgur) wheat, are delicious. They are also easy to assemble. Midye dolma, taramasalata, preserved lemon There’s a mussel dish on the menu everywhere you go in Istanbul. Two of the best we experienced were fried mussels on a stick and stuffed mussels with rice. This dish brings both of those dishes in a really tasty combination.

This savoury recipe uses the natural sweetness of onions to encase a savoury mince and rice filling. 

This Assyrian Iraqi variation is made with meat and will serve a family of six people as a main dish.  The grape leaves and a variety of vegetables are all stuffed with the same mixture and then cooked together in one large pot.

Also known as dolmades, these flavourful little roll-ups of spiced ground beef and vine leaves are popular as a snack and a side in Greece. 

This Turkish recipe from Somer Sivrioglu is a moreish way to get more from your mussels. First, prepare cracked rice with pimento, pine nuts, tomatoes and raisins, then stuff your mollusc friends! Food Safari Water

A smaller dolmade is better, or safer as there is less chance of the filling exploding. These are very easy to make, but set aside time to roll them neatly. I like to use both pork and beef in my filling, as well as pine nuts.

This traditional dish is from Erzurum, in eastern Anatolia, where they stuff it with walnuts. I’ve reduced the amount of syrup and boosted the stuffing with apricots. It uses the crunchy "string" pastry called Kadayıf, which means there are interesting texture contrasts between the inside and the outside.

This recipe for dolmades is inspired by Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market, where a large proportion of traders are of Greek origin.

What we call stuffed vine leaves, dolma, in the UK are thought of as wrapped vine leaves, sarma, in Turkey. Dolma is only used as a term to describe things which are stuffed in Turkish-like hollowed out courgettes (zucchini) or tomatoes, or even stuffed squid. Whatever you’d like to call them, these vine leaves, filled with bright red, slightly fiery burghul (bulgur) wheat, are delicious. They are also easy to assemble.

There’s a mussel dish on the menu everywhere you go in Istanbul. Two of the best we experienced were fried mussels on a stick and stuffed mussels with rice. This dish brings both of those dishes in a really tasty combination.

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