Tabbouleh Explained

Tabbouleh
Country:	Lebanon and Syria
Region:	Eastern Mediterranean
Course:	Salad
Served:	Cold
Main Ingredient:	Parsley, tomato, bulgur, onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt
Variations:	Pomegranate seeds instead of tomato

Tabbouleh (Arabic: تبولة|translit=tabbūla), also transcribed tabouleh, tabbouli, tabouli, or taboulah, is a Levantine salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley, with tomatoes, mint, onion, soaked uncooked bulgur, and seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sweet pepper. Some variations add lettuce, or use semolina instead of bulgur.^{[1] [2]}

Tabbouleh is traditionally served as part of a mezze in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Arab world.^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]} Like hummus, baba ghanoush, pita bread, and other elements of Arab cuisine, tabbouleh has become a popular food in the United States.^{[8] [9]}

Etymology

The Levantine Arabic tabbūle is derived from the Arabic word tābil from the Aramaic root word t-b-l, meaning "seasoning"^{[10] [11]} or more literally "dip". Use of the word in English first appeared in the 1950s.^[10]

History

Edible herbs known as qaḍb^[12] formed an essential part of the Arab diet in the Middle Ages. Dishes like tabbouleh attest to their continued popularity in Middle Eastern cuisine today.^[13] Originally from the mountains of Lebanon and Syria,^[14] tabbouleh has become one of the most popular salads in the Middle East.^[15] The wheat variety salamouni cultivated in the Beqaa Valley region in Lebanon, was considered (in the mid-19th century) as particularly well-suited for making bulgur, a basic ingredient of tabbouleh.^[16] In Lebanon, the Lebanese National Tabbouleh Day is a yearly festivity day dedicated to Tabbouleh. Since 2001, it is celebrated the first Saturday of the month of July.^[17]

Regional variations

In the Arab world, especially Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, it is usually served as part of a meze.^{[18] [19]} The Syrian and the Lebanese use more parsley than bulgur wheat in their dish. A Turkish variation of the dish known as kısır,^[15] and a similar Armenian dish known as eetch use far more bulgur than parsley. Another ancient variant is called terchots. In Cyprus, where the dish was introduced by the Lebanese, it is known as tambouli. In the Dominican Republic, a local version introduced by Syrian and Lebanese immigrants is called Tipile.^[20] It is widely popular in Israel.^{[21] [22] [23]}

Retail sales

Several manufacturers make tabbouleh for sale in supermarkets.^{[24] [25]}

See also

• List of salads
• List of vegetable dishes
• Kısır
• Eetch

Bibliography

• Book: The Middle Eastern Kitchen. Ghillie. Basan. Hippocrene Books. 2007. 978-0-7818-1190-3.
• Book: Food, health, and identity . Patricia . Caplan . Pat Caplan . Illustrated . Routledge . 1997 . 978-0-415-15680-6.
• Book: Where our food comes from: retracing Nikolay Vavilov's quest to end famine. Gary Paul. Nabhan. Illustrated. Island Press. 2008. 978-1-59726-399-3.
• Book: Positive Lebanon.. Tamyras. 2014. 978-2360860661. Tamyras. Tamyras .
• Book: Mediterranean vegetables: a cook's ABC of vegetables and their preparation in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and north Africa with more than 200 authentic recipes for the home cook. Clifford A.. Wright. Illustrated. Harvard Common Press. 2001. 978-1-55832-196-0.
• Book: The enigma of ethnicity: another American dilemma. registration. Wilbur. Zelinsky. Illustrated. University of Iowa Press. 2001. 978-0-87745-750-3.

Notes and References

1. Sami Zubaida, "National, Communal and Global Dimensions in Middle Eastern Food Cultures" in Sami Zubaida and Richard Tapper, A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East, London and New York, 1994 and 2000,, p. 35, 37; Claudia Roden, A Book of Middle Eastern Food, p. 86; Anissa Helou, Oxford Companion to Food, s.v. Lebanon; Maan Z. Madina, Arabic-English Dictionary of the Modern Literary Language, 1973, s.v. تبل
2. Oxford Companion to Food, s.v. tabbouleh
3. Book: Basan, Ghillie . Middle Eastern Kitchen . 2006 . Hippocrene Books . 978-0-7818-1190-3 . en.
4. Book: Wright, Clifford A.. Mediterranean Vegetables: A Cook's ABC of Vegetables and Their Preparation in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa with More Than 200 Authentic Recipes for the Home Cook. 2001. Harvard Common Press. 978-1-55832-196-0. en.
5. Book: Peck, Malcolm C. . The A to Z of the Gulf Arab States . 2010-04-12 . Scarecrow Press . 978-1-4617-3190-0 . en.
6. Book: Davis, Craig S. . The Middle East For Dummies . 2011-03-10 . John Wiley & Sons . 978-1-118-05393-5 . en.
7. Book: Basan, Ghillie . Middle Eastern Kitchen . 2006 . Hippocrene Books . 978-0-7818-1190-3 . en.
8. Zelinsky, 2001 p. 118.
9. Book: Schloss, Andrew . Almost from Scratch: 600 Recipes for the New Convenience Cuisine . 2007-11-01 . Simon and Schuster . 978-1-4165-9589-2 . en.
10. Book: Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities. Mark Morton. 2nd. Insomniac Press. 2004. 978-1-894663-66-3. registration. tabbouleh dictionary meaning.. 302.
11. Web site: 1881. Aramæische Pflanzennamen / Von Immanuel Löw mit Unterstützung der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. 2021-06-30. menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de. en.
12. Web site: Tabouli Parsley and Bulgur Salad. Arousing Appetites. 2015-07-11. 2015-05-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20150511225345/http://arousingappetites.com/. dead.
13. Wright, 2001, p. xxi.
14. Book: 1,001 Foods to Die For . Madison Books . Madison Books . 172 . . 2007 . 978-0-7407-7043-2.
15. Basan, 2007, p. 180-181.
16. Nabhan, 2008, pp. 77-78.
17. A Complete Insiders Guide to Lebanon. Edition Souk el Tayeb Press. December 2008, pp 266-267.
18. Book: Wright, Clifford A. . Mediterranean Vegetables: A Cook's ABC of Vegetables and Their Preparation in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa with More Than 200 Authentic Recipes for the Home Cook . 2001 . Harvard Common Press . 978-1-55832-196-0 . en.
19. Wright, 2001, p. 251. "In the Arab world, tabbouleh (tabbūla) is a salad usually made as part of the mazza table (p xx) especially in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine."
20. Book: Culture and Customs of the Dominican Republic. registration . 56 . Greenwood Publishing Group . 9780313303142. Brown. Isabel Zakrzewski. 1999.
21. Book: Degutiene, Nida. A Taste of Israel – From classic Litvak to modern Israeli. 2015-08-18. Penguin Random House South Africa. 978-1-4323-0654-0. en.
22. Book: Hobby, Jeneen . Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. 2009. 9781414448909. 60. University of Pennsylvania Press.
23. Book: Edelstein, Sari . Food, Cuisine, and Cultural Competency for Culinary, Hospitality, and Nutrition Professionals. 2010. 9781449618117. 585. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
24. News: Dry4Good Provides Healthy Ingredients For Food Manufacturers. DirectIndustry e-magazine. September 23, 2020.
25. News: If you haven't been to Trader Joe's yet, let me tell you why you're wrong. The Lantern. October 17, 2018.