Tabbouleh (), also transcribed tabouleh, tabbouli, tabouli, or taboulah, is a Levantine salad of finely chopped parsley, soaked bulgur, , Mentha, and Scallion, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, Edible salt and sweet pepper. Some variations add lettuce, or use semolina instead of bulgur.
Tabbouleh is traditionally served as part of a mezze in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Arab world. Like hummus, baba ghanoush, pita bread, and other elements of Arab cuisine, tabbouleh has become a popular food in the United States.
Etymology
The
Levantine Arabic is derived from the
Arabic language word from the
Aramaic root word
or more literally "dip". Use of the word in English first appeared in the 1950s.
History
Originally from the mountains of
Lebanon and
Syria,
tabbouleh has become one of the most popular salads in the Middle East. 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. In Lebanon, the Lebanese National Tabbouleh Day is a yearly festivity day dedicated to Tabbouleh. , it is celebrated the first Saturday of the month of July.
Tabbouleh made by Syrian Jews uses bulgur as the main ingredient, rather than parsley, this variety was introduced by them to Israel and into the US in the 1970s.[
]
Regional variations
In the
Arab world, especially
Syria,
Lebanon and Palestine, it is usually served as part of a
meze.
[ "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."] The
Syrian people and the
Lebanese people use more parsley than bulgur wheat in their dish. A
Turkish cuisine variation of the dish known as kısır, and a similar
Armenian cuisine dish known as use far more bulgur than parsley. Another ancient variant is called .
In the Dominican Republic, a local version introduced by Syrian and Lebanese immigrants is called Tipile.
Traditional Levantine tabbouleh has more herbs (mainly parsley) than bulgur, whereas western adaptations contain more bulgur than parsley.[
]
[
]
The bulgur-heavy variety is widely popular in Israel.[
]
Retail sales
Several manufacturers make tabbouleh for sale in supermarkets.
See also
-
List of salads
-
List of vegetable dishes
-
Kısır
-
Eetch
Notes
Further reading
