Extra tips and explanatory video

Kindly note that you can follow these recommendations to have cleaned vegetables:

-Wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap before and after preparing fresh produce.

-Cut away any damaged or bruised areas before preparing or eating.

-Gently rub produce while holding under plain running water. There’s no need to use soap or a produce wash.

-Wash produce BEFORE you peel it, so dirt and bacteria aren’t transferred from the knife onto the fruit or vegetable.

-Use a clean vegetable brush to scrub firm produce, such as melons and cucumbers.

-Dry produce with a clean cloth or paper towel to further reduce bacteria that may be present.

-Throw away the outermost leaves of a head of lettuce or cabbage.

The following link is an explanatory video on how to prepare Tabouli :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr2v2ddGNPg

Nb: Kindly note that all the above mentioned information are from my aunt's recipes copybook.

Tabbouli Benefits

The benefits of this salad are described as following :

Low Saturated Fat:

Most of the ingredients in tabouli are virtually fat free. The bulgur wheat used as the basis of the dish contains no cholesterol and has less than 0.1 percent fat. The herbs, tomato and onion added to the bulgur in tabouli are likewise almost fat free. The olive oil used as a dressing does add a relatively small amount of fat to the dish, but the fat in olive oil is unsaturated. Saturated fat is believed to be the most harmful to your overall health.

Fiber:

The bulgur wheat used to make tabouli is made from the whole grains of wheat cereal, with the grains steamed before they are cracked or sliced by a blade. According to the Vegetarian Society website, this means that bulgur can easily be rehydrated by soaking or boiling in liquid. Whole wheats, including bulgur, are a good source of dietary fiber, providing approximately 2.3 grams of fiber in every 100 grams of wheat. The carbohydrates provided in whole wheat are complex carbohydrates, which are believed overall to be more beneficial to health than simple carbohydrates.

Vitamins and Minerals:

The bulgur used to make tabouli salad is a low-sodium source of several minerals. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's national nutrition database, a cup serving of bulgur contains 18 mg of calcium, 1.75 mg of iron, 58 mg of magnesium and 124 mg of potassium. Potassium and magnesium are important for your body's organ, tissue and muscle function, and these minerals also act as electrolytes. Potassium is most commonly found in meat products, so tabouli represents a possible source of dietary potassium for vegetarians. Calcium is essential for your body to grow and maintain healthy teeth and bones. When tabouli is prepared with fresh tomatoes, it is also a good source of vitamin C.

Ingredients & Steps

Ingredients:

·         1/4 cup burghul (bulgur) wheat

·         4 cups parsley (about 3 - 4 bunches parsley), finely chopped

·         1/2 cup mint, finely chopped

·         6 spring onions, finely sliced 

·         3/4 - 1 cup strained lemon juice, to taste

·         1/2 cup olive oil, good quality

·         4 tomatoes, firm and ripe, diced

·         1 teaspoon salt (optional)

Steps :

1-Wash the parsley under running water to remove any dirt etc. Wash the burghul (bulgur) to remove any foreign matter. Shake the parsley to remove excess water.

2-Soak the burghul in water for 20 - 25 minutes in a large bowl. The length of time required for soaking will depend on the size of the grains used. Another method is to put one cup boiling water with a box of bulgur and seasonings from the store and then refrigerate it for at least one hour.

3-Drain the water and squeeze the burghul in paper towels to remove excess water. Alternatively, use a very fine sieve to remove water. This will not be necessary with the boiling water method.

4-Mix the burghul in a large bowl with the parsley, mint and spring onions.

5-Add the lemon juice and salt to taste. Note that it is VERY important not to just add these ingredients, but slowly add them so that it is not too salty or has too much lemon juice.

6-The original instructions left out the step about the olive oil; it is VERY important to add just a little oil at a time to taste; adding the full amount listed will probably make it too oily for Western tastes.

7-Add the tomatoes and lightly toss throughout the salad, so as not to crush them.

8-Serve with either pita bread or whole romaine lettuce leaves.

History of Tabouli

To the Arabs, edible herbs known as qaḍb, formed an essential part of their diet in the Middle Ages, and dishes like tabbouleh attest to their continued popularity in Middle Eastern cuisine today.Originally from the mountains of Syria and Lebanon, tabbouleh has become one of the most popular salads in the Middle East.In Lebanon, the wheat variety salamouni cultivated in the region around Hawran and in Mount Lebanon, Bekaa Valley and Baalbek was considered (in the mid-19th century) as particularly well suited for making bulgur, a basic ingredient of tabbouleh.

In Iraq, the dish is considered native to Mosul, which has close culinary ties to Syria. Tabbouleh and other vegetable based mezze dishes popular in Syria were mocked by Baghdadi women and cooks when they were first introduced to them, because they were seen as being a means to scrimp on the use of meat.

The dish is also popular in Haiti, where the immigration of Arabs to the island has influenced many dishes.

Introduction & World Records

Introduction :

Tabouli , also spelled tabbouleh or tabouleh, is a popular dish of Middle Eastern origin. Its main ingredients are parsley and bulghur (a boiled and dried form of wheat). You can purchase it in a box in supermarkets, specialty food stores and markets. Great with hummus, on pita sandwiches and as a dip, making your own is easy and will guarantee lots of it to go around. Tabouli is also gaining popularity in Western cuisine as a healthy, vegetarian food that is low in fat yet provides fiber, minerals and complex carbohydrates.

Ref: http://www.assafir.com.lb/

World records :

The largest recorded dish of tabbouleh to date weighed 4,324 kg (9,532 lb 12 oz) and was created on 13 November 2009 by the Yaldy Association at Alaayen Elementary School in the Arab town of Shefa-Amr in Palestine.

Ref: http://www.mulhak.com/