Tripoli-Lebanon.com - Lebanese Food - Ingredients of Lebanese Food

Lebanese Food was always one of the country's principal attractions, and it has now largely passed the borders to become extremely popular in the West. Lebanese cuisine as a whole goes under the heading "health food". It is mostly based on cereals, in the shape of bread, bourghoul (crushed wheat) and rice. A large and varied assortment of vegetables and milk products accompany the above, and meat plays a relatively small part.

Bread was and still is treasured; it is never thrown away. If it has become truly improper for consumption, it is kissed before being disposed of. Stale bread is grilled in the oven or fried so that it becomes dry and crunchy as cracker; such grilled bread is a tasty variant that enters the composition of several dishes.

Several foreign dishes, like couscous, French fries and spaghetti, have been imported into the cuisine and thoroughly modified to the point of rivaling the original recipes. They were adapted to the local ways to the extent of becoming a part of the traditional food.

One more thing should be said about the recipes you will find below: the proportions are merely indicative. Lebanese dishes are very free on that point, and every household adapts the dosage of the ingredients to taste. You too should tweak them until you are happy with the taste. Please note also that Lebanese vegetables are very flavored and very small (as an example, cucumbers are about 4 inches long) and that you may need to take this into consideration when getting the ingredients.

BEST OF LEBANESE FOOD SELECTION:

TABBOULEH

	Ingredients Tabbouleh Libanaise 1/4 cup burghul, fine cracked wheat 2 cups finely chopped parsley 1/2 kg (16 oz) firm red tomatoes, washed and finely chopped 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves 1/4 cup finely chopped onion 1/2 cup lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt (as desired) 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil . How to: Wash chopped mint and parsley then drain well. Wash the burghul several times and drain. Soak it in chopped tomatoes for 20 minutes. Rub chopped onion with salt. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Add olive oil and lemon juice, toss the mixture well. Serve Tabbouleh with crisp lettuce leaves, or fresh cabbage leaves
Samkeh Harrah

	Ingredients: Samkeh Harrah Traboulseyeh A delicious main Lebanese dish. Poissons Piquants Tripolitains 1 kg (32 oz) fried or grilled fish, flaked 1 cup finely chopped onion 1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper � cup finely chopped coriander � cup ground pine nuts, almonds, and pistachio nuts 3 cups sesame paste sauce (Taratour) 1 tbls dried coriander a dash of ground paprika � tspn ground chili (red pepper) � tspn ground cumin � cup olive oil � tspn salt How to: Fry in hot oil onion, bell pepper, and coriander until soft. Stir in spices, salt and ground nuts. Pour sesame paste sauce over the mixture, stir constantly on medium heat until the oil�s bubbles appear and the mixture thickens. Pour mixture in serving platter. Garnish with fish flakes, lemon wedges, fried pine nuts and some chopped parsley.
HOMMOS BET'HINEH

	Ingredients: 1 glass of dry chick peas (or a can of cooked chick peas) Tarator sauce as prepared above about 2 tablespoons olive oil If the chick peas aren't cooked, soak them overnight. Cook them well then mash them in such a way as to get a thick pur�e. Add the tarator and mix thoroughly. The olive oil is poured on top of the hommos before serving. Tips Served alongside the hommos are usually radishes, green onions and pickles.
Arayess Kafta

	Ingredients Grilled Lamb Meat � kg (16 oz) kafta 1 � pitta bread, cut into 12 pieces 2 tbls butter How to: Spread some butter on the inner part of bread pieces. Divide kafta into 12 portions. Spread over buttered bread. Put pieces in a grill or an oven at 200�C for 5 minutes or till kafta is cooked. Serve hot with cold yoghurt
FALAFEL

	1 lb. 10 oz. soaked foul 10 1/2 oz. soaked chickpeas 1 lb. red onions and green onions (all chopped together making 1 lb.) 4 bunches parsley 3 bunches green coriander 3 cloves garlic 1 pod hot green pepper 4 tbs. salt 1/2 tbs. white & black pepper 6 tbs. flour 1 pot frying oil How to: Chop fine all the ingredients mentioned above by running them through a food chopper. Rub them with salt, pepper and flour and allow to rest for two hours. About a half hour before they are to be served, make into small patties and fry in hot oil. Arrange on a platter when fried and garnish with chopped parsley.
KEBBEH Nayyeh

	2 1/5 lbs. lamb pure lean and completely free of all fat 8 1/2 oz. burghul (ground wheat) 4 oz. onions 2 1/2 tbs. salt 1 tsp. pepper How to: Grind meat and onions coarsely in a food chopper. Then put this mixture into a "Cutter" and add salt and pepper. Blend in "Cutter" for about 10 minutes. As cutter turns, add small cubes of ice to be ground with the mixture. This helps give the meat more consistency. At the end of ten minutes start adding the burghul. Continue blending ten minutes longer after all burghul has been added. Put mixture into a bowl and garnish. Serve cold
FATTOUCH

	1/2 lb. pita bread toasted and broken into small pieces 2 1/5 lbs. chopped cucumbers 10 oz. onions finely chopped 2 lbs. tomatoes, cut into tiny pieces 6 oz. olive oil 8 1/2 oz. lemon juice 1 clove garlic mashed with salt 2 tbs. salt How to: Toast and break bread into small pieces. Sprinke cold water over it. Chop all the vegetables and add them to the bread. Mix well. Add mashed garlic, lemon juice and oil, and toss well.
LAHMEH BI AJIN

	2 1/5 lbs. flour 1 pt. water 1 1/2 tbs. salt 1/2 oz. yeast (1 cake commercial American yeast) 1 lb. butter that has been melted and cooled 2 1/2 lbs. lean lamb, chopped fine 2 lbs. red onions, finely chopped 1 stick of butter to fry the chopped meat 4 oz. snobar (pine nuts) 2 tbs. salt for the meat 1 1/2 cups of vinegar or labni 1/2 tsp. pepper How to: Sift flour, melt yeast in water and add salt. Pour the yeast mixture gradually on the flour kneading all the while. Allow dough to rest 3 hours. Melt butter and work it into the risen dough. Form dough into small balls. Prepare filling: Fry chopped onions in butter until it is a golden brown. Add meat, spices and snobar and stir occasionally. After a few minutes add vinegar and let cook a little longer. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Roll out balls of dough with one finger (in order to remain round). Put some of the filling on the flattened pieces of dough and arrange in a baking pan. Bake in hot oven for a few minutes. Serve hot with yoghurt.
Stuffed Grape Leaves

	1/4 stick of butter/marg. � 1 teaspoon of salt � 1 cup rice � 1 lb. of chopped beef � 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon � 3 tablespoons of lemon juice � 1/2 teaspoon of allspice Stuffing - wash rice - melt butter. Mix rice, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Add melted butter and stir. Ten add chopped meat a mix well. Wash grape leaves and lay flat with dull side up. Stuff with meat and roll.(Place a small amount of meat near stem section of leaf. Curl over the leaf to cover meat, fold in the sides and roll the leaf into a cigar shape.) On the bottom of pan place either meat bones or unstuffed grapleaves in pan and add water until grape leaves are covered. Add 2 tablespoons of butter/marg. Cook on high until water boils, lower heat and let cook for another hour or until rice is cooked. place a dish on top of grape leaves while cooking to keep them down. When grape leaves are cooked add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.

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