Devon Akmon

I have a soft spot in my heart for traditions. Coupled with a penchant for history – I am a historian, after all – I was happy to spend quality time with sitti (Arabic for “my grandmother”) last night learning the family recipe for kibbeh. For the uninitiated, kibbeh is the national dish of Lebanon. Families pride themselves on recipes that are often passed on from generation to generation. Kibbeh is made from meat, usually beef or lamb, and bulgur, and it can be prepared in various ways.

Having been a vegetarian for close to fifteen years, my sitti’s kibbeh was one of the first meat dishes I ate after switching my diet. I have to admit, this comfort food is delightful.

In an effort to learn my family’s method for cooking this delectable dish, Dharma and I paid a visit to sitti’s house last night. However, first we made a stop at a local Arab market for some meat from the butcher. My family often prepares kibbeh using beef instead of lamb. The beef is incredibly lean. It is common for Arab butchers to triple-grind the meat for this dish. In addition, we picked up some extra fine bulgur. In our recipe we use approximately one cup of bulgur per pound of beef. A filling (called “hausa”) is made by sauteing about a quarter of the meat with a bunch of onion, olive oil, pine nuts, salt and pepper.

You then mix by hand the bulgur and meat, working ice cold water in to soften the bulgur and get everything to stick together. Add in salt, pepper, allspice and a puree of green pepper and onion and you’re ready to start layering. A thin layer of kibbeh goes on the bottom of an oiled pan. Then the hausa gets placed on top of that. The top layer is kibbeh again. Then you slice it up into pieces, drizzle olive oil over the top and bake for about 1 hr 15 minutes in an oven heated to 375.

Well, that’s about all I can share. Some family recipes are meant to be secrets. The kibbeh tastes great, and I suspect we will be eating much of it over the next few days.

Dharma and I hope to meet with sitti over the next several weeks to learn additional Lebanese dishes and family recipes. I hope to record some of these cooking sessions as well. It’s my small effort to keep alive a family tradition while enjoying some great food!

Check out some not-so-great iPhone pixs of our lesson here.

From Sitti's Kitchen: Kibbeh Lessons

- Devon Akmon