Roll, Wrap, and Pass These 12 Dishes With Leaves

Cooking in leaves is a timeless tradition with endless earthy possibilities, from passing protein in lettuce wraps to baking salmon in fig leaves, steaming pork in kale leaves, and roasting cod in banana leaves. We've gathered global traditions that go beyond salads and side dishes: a Dominican grandmother's recipe for rolling three types of ground meat in cabbage like swaddled children; Turkish grape leaves brined and stuffed with rice and herbs; and a Mexican recipe roasting black cod in banana leaves with a citrusy spice paste.

Chef Jamie Simpson calls wrapping food with leaves the old-school lunch box. “That predates most of us; it predates pots and pans even. It’s generally a way to keep sand, dirt, coals, and charcoal off of your food directly and serves as a convenient carrying case,” said the executive chef of the Culinary Vegetable Institute, adding that cooking can soften leaves that are abrasive, spicy, or stringent when raw.

Here are flavorful, aromatic ways to work with banana leaves, bay leaves, chicories, corn husks, fig leaves, grape leaves, and more edible leaves all year round.