skin. The stuffed mackerel is then either baked or preferably grilled long enough to brown the skin. Sardines (sardalya) may be stuffed with a filling of kashar cheese, tomato, onion, dill and parsley. In Turkey, stuffed sardines may be served as a mezze platter at traditional taverns called meyhane. Offal There are several varieties of dolma made with offal. Dalak dolması, widely considered a delicacy of Armenian origin, is spleen stuffed with rice that has been seasoned with allspice, salt, pepper, mint, parsley and onion. It may be served an accompaniment with anise-flavored liquor like arak, rakı, ouzo or oghi. Mumbar dolma is intestine stuffed with a moist mixture of ground meat, rice, pepper, cumin and salt. The stuffed intestine is then boiled in water until it is cooked thoroughly, after which it may be sliced and fried in butter before serving. Fruit-based dolmas There are some fruit-based dolmas as well like şekerli ayva dolması (stuffed quinces with a rice and currant filling, flavored with coriander, cinnamon and sugar) and pekmezli ayva dolması (meat and bulgur stuffed quince flavored with a traditional Turkish syrup, similar to molasses, called pekmez). Pekmez is also an ingredient in the meat-based variants of elma dolması (stuffed apples) and sarı erık dolması (stuffed yellow plums). Iranian Azerbaijanis and Persian Jews may serve stuffed quince, called dolma bay, as a Sabbath meal or during Sukkot. One filling for stuffed apples is made from a high-quality cubed lamb shoulder called kuşbaşı, ground lamb, and rice. First black grapes are boiled together with sumac—the resulting sumac flavored grape juice is drained and reserved. The kuşbaşı lamb is cooked in this sumac flavored grape juice. The apples are stuffed with a mixture of ground lamb combined with rice, salt, pepper and layered in a pot on top of the cooked chunks of kuşbaşı. The apples are cooked in the remaining sumac flavored grape juice. Dried apricots and blanched almonds are added to the pot near the end of the cooking process. A meatless variant of the filling is made from a sauteed mixture of diced apples, diced pears, walnuts, hazelnut, currants, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise. The hollowed out apples are stuffed with the mixture and baked in the oven. This version may be garnished with powdered sugar. Stuffed melons were part of the Ottoman palace cuisine. The recipe survives in modern Yemenite and Armenian cooking. Religious celebrations and