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Background   Sarma  - cooked leaves rolled around a filling made from rice and/or minced meat, possibly vegetables and seasoning plants – represents one of the most widespread feasting dishes of the Middle Eastern and South-Eastern European cuisines. Although cabbage and grape vine  sarma  is well-known worldwide, the use of alternative plant leaves remains largely unexplored. The aim of this research was to document all of the botanical taxa whose leaves are used for preparing sarma in the folk cuisines of Turkey and the Balkans.    Methods  Field studies were conducted during broader ethnobotanical surveys, as well as during ad-hoc investigations between the years 2011 and 2014 that included diverse rural communities in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. Primary ethnobotanical and folkloric literatures in each country were also considered.    Results  Eighty-seven botanical taxa, mainly wild, belonging to 50 genera and 27 families, were found to represent the bio-cultural heritage of  sarma  in Turkey and the Balkans. The greatest plant biodiversity in  sarma  was found in Turkey and, to less extent, in Bulgaria and Romania.  The most commonly used leaves for preparing sarma were those of cabbage (both fresh and lacto-fermented), grape vine, beet, dock, sorrel, horseradish, lime tree, bean, and spinach. In a few cases, the leaves of endemic species ( Centaurea haradjianii ,  Rumex gracilescens , and  R. olympicus  in Turkey) were recorded.  Other uncommon sarma preparations were based on lightly toxic taxa, such as potato leaves in NE Albania, leaves of  Arum ,  Convolvulus , and  Smilax  species in Turkey, of  Phytolacca americana  in Macedonia, and of  Tussilago farfara  in diverse countries. Moreover, the use of leaves of the introduced species  Reynoutria japonica  in Romania,  Colocasia esculenta  in Turkey, and  Phytolacca americana  in Macedonia shows the dynamic nature of folk cuisines.    Conclusion  The rich ethnobotanical diversity of  sarma  confirms the urgent need to record folk culinary plant knowledge. The results presented here can be implemented into initiatives aimed at re-evaluating folk cuisines and niche food markets based on local neglected ingredients, and possibly also to foster trajectories of the avant-garde cuisines inspired by ethnobotanical knowledge.

Of the importance of a leaf: the ethnobotany of sarma in Turkey and the Balkans