Kibbeh

Kibbeh ( , also kubba and other spellings; ; ) is a popular dish in the Arab world and the Levant in particular, made of spiced lean ground meat and bulgur wheat. Kibbeh is considered to be a national dish of Lebanon and Syria. In Levantine cuisine, kibbeh is made by pounding bulgur wheat together with meat into a fine paste and forming it into ovoid shapes, with toasted pine nuts and spices. It may also be layered and cooked on a tray, deep-fried, grilled, or served raw. The Syrian city of Aleppo can lay claim to at least 17 types of kibbeh. In Mesopotamian cuisine, versions with rice or farina are found. Outside of Lebanon and Syria, versions are found in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, the Persian Gulf, Armenia, and Turkey, and among Assyrian people. It is also found throughout Latin American countries that received substantial numbers of immigrants from the Levant during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as parts of North America.

Kibbeh ( , also kubba and other spellings; ; ) is a popular dish in the Arab world and the Levant in particular, made of spiced lean ground meat and bulgur wheat. Kibbeh is considered to be a national dish of Lebanon and Syria. In Levantine cuisine, kibbeh is made by pounding bulgur wheat together with meat into a fine paste and forming it into ovoid shapes, with toasted pine nuts and spices. It may also be layered and cooked on a tray, deep-fried, grilled, or served raw. The Syrian city of Aleppo can lay claim to at least 17 types of kibbeh. In Mesopotamian cuisine, versions with rice or farina are found. Outside of Lebanon and Syria, versions are found in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, the Persian Gulf, Armenia, and Turkey, and among Assyrian people. It is also found throughout Latin American countries that received substantial numbers of immigrants from the Levant during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as parts of North America.

Etymology

The modern word kibbeh ( ) is derived from the Arabic root k-b-b ( ). The use of kubbeh to designate stuffed food may have also been derived from the Akkadian language kubbu. The 10th century cookbook by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq referred to meatballs as kubab (singular kubba).

History

As noted by food historian Nawal Nasrallah, the earliest mention of modern kibbeh, made with a filled shell of ground meat and grains, is in the 18th century work Taj al-'Arus min Jawahir al-Qamus. The text describes it as a disk of ground meat and rice flour made by the people of "al-Sham" (the Levant). American Methodist missionary William McClure Thomson noted in his memoirs during his 1847 visit to Lebanon that kibbeh, then made by crushing wheat in mortar and pestle, was very popular. He described it as "the national dish of the Arabs", despite its association with the Levant. Swedish Orientalist described 8 types of kibbeh in his 1844 dictionary, and also mentioned a proverb about its social importance: "[...], without our koubbé, we would all have died". The 1885 Beirut cookbook Ustadh al-Tabbakhin by author provided 15 kibbeh recipes, including recipes for kibbeh labaniyyeh, kiyyeh bil siniyyeh, kibbeh mashwiyyeh, among others. The Comparative Encyclopedia of Aleppo by Syrian author Khayr al-Din al-Asadi (completed in 1971, published posthumously in 1981¹) described 58 different kinds of kibbeh.

Variations

Iraq

]] Kubba Mosul from Iraq is flat and round like a disc, named after the city of Mosul. Kubba Halab is an Iraqi version of kibbeh created with a rice and potato crust and named after the largest city in Syria, Aleppo. Kubbat shorba is an Iraqi and Kurdish version prepared as a stew, commonly made with turnips and chard in a tomato-based stew. It is often served with arak and various salads. Among Kurdish Jews, there is a kubba soup flavored with aromatic thyme leaves during winter.

Culture

Kibbeh is considered by many to be a difficult dish to prepare, and as such, the quality of kibbeh is considered to be a benchmark for the skill of a cook in Iraq and the Levant. Numerous mentions of kibbeh can be found in Aleppo Arabic folk proverbs.

See also

Falafel List of deep-fried foods List of Middle Eastern dishes List of stuffed dishes

References

ku:Kutilk

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1377817656 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.