Tabbouleh is perhaps one of the most cherished mezze / dish on the Lebanese table, in Lebanese cuisine.
Hip hip hip hooray!!!
I need to emphasize how important it is for us as Lebanese to enjoy this fresh, tangy, seasonal salad.
It's very much part of our culinary heritage.
The Golden Rule: Parsley is the main ingredient. Don't be fooled by salads that look or taste like tabbouleh, but hardly includes parsley. It is an insult to its origin.
A Romantic Picture: A father picking from his garden fresh bunches of parsley to have them chopped finely by his wife who lovingly prepares the weekly tabbouleh for the Sunday family lunch. She makes bunches with the strands of parsley and gently, without bruising the leaves, she slices the flat leaves into fine even pieces.
A Little bit of History: The largest tabbouleh recorded to date for the Guinness World Record weighed 4,324 kg (9,532 lb 12 oz) and was produced on November 13 2009 by the Yaldy Association at Alaayen Elementary School in the Arab town of Shefa-Amr in Israel. In October 2009, Lebanon held the title of having the largest tabbouleh. Other large tabbouleh titles include: Arab residents of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights who made a bowl of tabbouleh weighing 2,359 kg in March 2008, and Palestinian residents of Ramallah in the West Bank (June 2006). Again I question, is it the quantity that matters or the quality?
More History: In April 4, 2001, Ricardo Mbarkho (artist) sends to Allam Sleiman (computer programmer) an email telling him about the idea of initiating a National Tabbouleh Day where the Lebanese would celebrate their national unity through their identification to the tabbouleh. Two days later, they write the first press release designating this new celebration for every first Saturday of the month of July. About 20,000 Lebanese are informed by email and are invited to transfer the message everywhere to the world..The Lebanese and foreign press announces the news with articles on the subject. The Biennial of Paris presents the editions of the National Tabbouleh Day since 2006. The Lebanese Ministry of Tourism officially gives its approval and its patronage for the 2007 edition. The National Tabbouleh Day is becomes an official celebration for all the Lebanese.
Tabbouleh Day at the Farmers' Market
Did you Know? Did you know that there is a song dedicated solely to tabbouleh? My son and his friends sang “The Tabbouleh Song” during recess for an entire school year. We all went down to the Tabbouleh Festival in downtown to sing the song with Albert on lead vocals. It was hilarious. The crowd cheered and the judges did not know exactly what was happening. Crazy!
Serving Tabbouleh: Tabbouleh is served with young leaves of Romaine lettuce, cabbage , or soft vine leaves.One makes a small pocket with the leaves and scoops up a small amount of tabbouleh . The combination of the lemon juice with the parsley, onion, tomatoes, burghul, and spices make all your juices flow. It's a mouthwatering experience.
The Dressing: It's very simple - a combination of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil (nothing less), allspice (mixed with the spring onions), salt (mixed with the spring onions to soften the sharpness of the onion) and later more to taste.
A Twist in your Tabbouleh: You can add chopped chili peppers to give your tabbouleh some spunk. When lemon is in season (Feb in Lebanon) grate the zest of the rind and mix it in your salad. Out of this world.
Avoid: Don't forget to dry your parsley leaves very well. If not, you will get a soggy tabbouleh. Not cool!
The Recipe:
2. Chop the mint leaves and mix to the parsley. Don't over handle the mint, as they bruise easily and change color, becoming black. If you are not using the parsley immediately, store the chopped parsley in a saucepan, as opposed to a Tupperware. This will keep the parsley crunchy and prevent moisture from building up.
3. Dice the tomatoes into small cubes. Start by cutting the tomatoes into round circles, as seen in the photo below, then make the cubes by cutting horizontally then vertically. This is how they do it in restaurants all around Lebanon. At home, you may have more time, but I really found this way to be the most efficient.
4. Chop the spring onions into tiny bits, trimming the filaments. In a small bowl, add 1 teaspoon of salt to the onion and mix them well together. This will kill the sharpness of the onion. Add the ground allspice.
5. Wash the burghul with cold running water and strain from any floating debris. Don't soak the burghul in water.It is better to soak the burghul in lemon juice and with the water of the tomatoes.
6. Pour the burghul into a large mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice. Leave to rest for 5 - 10 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes with the water from the tomatoes. With your hands (the Lebanese way), mix the burghul and the tomatoes together. Add the chopped onions. Mix again.
7. Add the chopped parsley / mint and mix thoroughly with your hands. Add olive oil and salt to taste.
Hip hip hip hooray!!!
I need to emphasize how important it is for us as Lebanese to enjoy this fresh, tangy, seasonal salad.
It's very much part of our culinary heritage.
The Golden Rule: Parsley is the main ingredient. Don't be fooled by salads that look or taste like tabbouleh, but hardly includes parsley. It is an insult to its origin.
A Romantic Picture: A father picking from his garden fresh bunches of parsley to have them chopped finely by his wife who lovingly prepares the weekly tabbouleh for the Sunday family lunch. She makes bunches with the strands of parsley and gently, without bruising the leaves, she slices the flat leaves into fine even pieces.
A Little bit of History: The largest tabbouleh recorded to date for the Guinness World Record weighed 4,324 kg (9,532 lb 12 oz) and was produced on November 13 2009 by the Yaldy Association at Alaayen Elementary School in the Arab town of Shefa-Amr in Israel. In October 2009, Lebanon held the title of having the largest tabbouleh. Other large tabbouleh titles include: Arab residents of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights who made a bowl of tabbouleh weighing 2,359 kg in March 2008, and Palestinian residents of Ramallah in the West Bank (June 2006). Again I question, is it the quantity that matters or the quality?
More History: In April 4, 2001, Ricardo Mbarkho (artist) sends to Allam Sleiman (computer programmer) an email telling him about the idea of initiating a National Tabbouleh Day where the Lebanese would celebrate their national unity through their identification to the tabbouleh. Two days later, they write the first press release designating this new celebration for every first Saturday of the month of July. About 20,000 Lebanese are informed by email and are invited to transfer the message everywhere to the world..The Lebanese and foreign press announces the news with articles on the subject. The Biennial of Paris presents the editions of the National Tabbouleh Day since 2006. The Lebanese Ministry of Tourism officially gives its approval and its patronage for the 2007 edition. The National Tabbouleh Day is becomes an official celebration for all the Lebanese.
Did you Know? Did you know that there is a song dedicated solely to tabbouleh? My son and his friends sang “The Tabbouleh Song” during recess for an entire school year. We all went down to the Tabbouleh Festival in downtown to sing the song with Albert on lead vocals. It was hilarious. The crowd cheered and the judges did not know exactly what was happening. Crazy!
Serving Tabbouleh: Tabbouleh is served with young leaves of Romaine lettuce, cabbage , or soft vine leaves.One makes a small pocket with the leaves and scoops up a small amount of tabbouleh . The combination of the lemon juice with the parsley, onion, tomatoes, burghul, and spices make all your juices flow. It's a mouthwatering experience.
The Dressing: It's very simple - a combination of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil (nothing less), allspice (mixed with the spring onions), salt (mixed with the spring onions to soften the sharpness of the onion) and later more to taste.
A Twist in your Tabbouleh: You can add chopped chili peppers to give your tabbouleh some spunk. When lemon is in season (Feb in Lebanon) grate the zest of the rind and mix it in your salad. Out of this world.
Avoid: Don't forget to dry your parsley leaves very well. If not, you will get a soggy tabbouleh. Not cool!
The Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 4-5 bunches of parsley (depending on size) finely chopped
- ½ bunch of fresh mint finely chopped
- ½ kg (1.1 lb) (4-6 tomatoes) firm ripe bright red tomatoes (organic is best)
- 3-4 sprigs of spring onions thinly sliced
- ¼ cup of fine burghul (golden or brown) I prefer brown!
- ½ teaspoon of ground allspice
- Juice of 1-2 lemons (depending on how much juice is extracted)
- ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
Method of Preparation:
1. Untie the bunch of parsley, picking out debris and spoiled stalks. Wash the parsley thoroughly with cold running water. Rinse at least 3 times to be sure that you have perfect cleaned parsley. Shake off excess water. Tie bunches of stalks together aligning the stalks evenly. Leave to drain in a strainer, stalks down, while you work on chopping the other ingredients. If the stalks are not completely dry, spin them in a salad spinner to ensure complete dryness. If the stalks are still wet, you wind up with "mushy" tabbouleh. You don't want that! To chop the parsley, hold the parsley with one hand and chop with the other using a sharp knife. Start chopping from the stalk end and move up.  |
| Use a very good cutting knife. Make sure it is sharp |
3. Dice the tomatoes into small cubes. Start by cutting the tomatoes into round circles, as seen in the photo below, then make the cubes by cutting horizontally then vertically. This is how they do it in restaurants all around Lebanon. At home, you may have more time, but I really found this way to be the most efficient.
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| Chopped tomatoes |
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| Vibrant colors of one of our national dishes |
5. Wash the burghul with cold running water and strain from any floating debris. Don't soak the burghul in water.It is better to soak the burghul in lemon juice and with the water of the tomatoes.
6. Pour the burghul into a large mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice. Leave to rest for 5 - 10 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes with the water from the tomatoes. With your hands (the Lebanese way), mix the burghul and the tomatoes together. Add the chopped onions. Mix again.
7. Add the chopped parsley / mint and mix thoroughly with your hands. Add olive oil and salt to taste.
The taste of the tabbouleh should be tangy, salty, and sweet all at the same time...
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| Can you taste it? |
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| Couldn't resist! |
Just the photos make my mouth water ! I can hardly wait to start making my own. Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe.
ReplyDeleteOOH! What a beautiful and inspiring recipe post. Gorgeous photography - truly top notch. I look forward to making this recipe as you indicated and to taking my own photos inspired by yours!
ReplyDeleteI just made this today and it is the best tabbouleh ever. Really love it. Delivering some to friends in the neighborhood for their dinner. The "Tabbouleh Song" is the really kicker!
ReplyDelete