Kibbeh (, also kubba and other spellings; ; ) is a popular dish in the Arab world and the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

in particular based on spiced lean ground meat and bulgur wheat. Kibbeh is considered to be a

national dish A national dish is a culinary Dish (food), dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. In

Levantine cuisine Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant, in the sense of the rough area of former Ottoman Syria. The cuisine has similarities with Egyptian cuisine, North African cuisine and Ottoman cuisine. It is particularly known for its ...

, 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 Syria, versions are found in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and among

Assyrian people Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group Indigenous peoples, indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians Assyrian continuity, share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesop ...

. It is also found throughout

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n countries that received substantial numbers of immigrants from the

during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as parts of North America.

Etymology

The word kibbeh first appeared in ancient biblical text, meaning "tent" or "tarp". Later on the word took on a new meaning in

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

as kababa, which means "a covering".

Variations

Levant

, a variety of dishes made with bulgur (cracked wheat) and minced lamb are called ''kibbeh''.

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

is famous for having more than 17 different types. These include ''kibbeh'' prepared with

sumac Sumac or sumach ( , )—not to be confused with poison sumac—is any of the roughly 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' (and related genera) of the cashew and mango tree family, Anacardiaceae. However, it is '' Rhus coriaria ...

(''kibbe sumāqiyye''),

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

(''kibbe labaniyye''),

quince The quince (; ''Cydonia oblonga'') is the sole member of the genus ''Cydonia'' in the Malinae subtribe (which contains apples, pears, and other fruits) of the Rosaceae family. It is a deciduous tree that bears hard, aromatic bright golden-yel ...

('' kibbe safarjaliyye''), lemon juice (''kibbe ḥāmḍa''),

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...

sauce,

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

sauce, and other varieties, such as the "disk" ''kibbeh'' (''kibbe arāṣ''), the "plate" ''kibbeh'' (''kibbe biṣfīḥa'' or ''kibbe bṣēniyye'') and the raw ''kibbeh'' ('' kibbeh nayyeh''). Kibbeh_Nayyeh

'' Kibbeh nayyeh'' is a raw dish made from a mixture of bulgur, very finely minced lamb or beef similar to

steak tartare Steak tartare or tartar steak is a French cuisine, French dish of Raw meat, raw ground meat, ground (minced) beef. It is usually served with onions, capers, parsley or Chives, chive, salt, black pepper, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and other ...

, and Levantine spices, served on a platter, frequently as part of a ''

meze ''Meze'' (also spelled ''mezze'' or ''mezé'') (, ) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in Eastern Mediterranean cuisines. It is similar to Spanish cuisine, Spanish tapas and Italian cuisine, Italian Antipasto, antipasti. A ''me ...

'' in

and

, garnished with mint leaves and olive oil, and served with green onions or scallions, green hot peppers, and

pita Pita ( or ; ) or pitta (British English), also known as Arabic bread (, ), as Lebanese bread and as kmaj (from the Persian ''kumaj''), is a family of yeast- leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Levant ...

/pocket bread or '' markouk'' bread. Because '' kibbeh nayyeh'' is raw, it requires high-quality meat to prepare and has been seen as a traditional way to honor guests. A Syrian soup known as ''kubbi kishk'' consists of ''kubbi'' "torpedoes" or "footballs" in a yogurt (''kishk'') and butter broth with stewed cabbage leaves. Another soup, known as ''kibbeh hamda'', consists of chicken stock with vegetables (usually leeks, celery, turnips and courgettes), lemon juice and garlic, with small ''kibbeh'' made with ground rice as dumplings. In the Syrian Jewish diaspora this is popular both at

Pesach Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

and as the pre-fast meal on the day before

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

Iraq

''Kubba Mosul'' from Iraq is flat and round like a disc. ''Kubba halab'' is an Iraqi version of kibbeh created with a rice crust and named after the largest city in Syria,

. ''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 Kurdistani Jews are the Mizrahi Jewish communities from the geographic region of Kurdistan, roughly covering parts of northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey. Kurdish Jews lived as closed ethnic communities ...

, there is a kubba soup flavored with aromatic thyme leaves soup during winter time.

Latin America

Brazil

Brazilian , is sometimes stuffed with '' catupiry'' or '' requeijão'', a sauce resembling ricotta and cream cheese. Most Brazilian uses only ground beef, but other variations use tahini, ( texturized soy protein), (Japanese wheat gluten-based meat substitute) or

tofu or bean curd is a food prepared by Coagulation (milk), coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness: ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', and ''extra (or super) firm''. It originated in Chin ...

(soybean curd) as stuffing. In the

Brazilian state The federative units of Brazil () are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation, and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which together form the Federative Repu ...

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

, a variation of called (Rice kibbeh) is made with a rice flour breading. It was created by Arab immigrants to Brazil who didn't have access to wheat in the remote Amazon region of Brazil.

Colombia

On Colombia's Caribbean coast, the most local variations of the dish use ground beef instead of lamb, but the original recipe, or one with mixture of beef and lamb, can be found served by the large Lebanese and Syrian population of the zone. The dish has acquired almost vernacular presence and is frequently served in social occasions at both Arab and non-Arab households. When served as an adopted local dish, it is offered often as a starter along with other regional delicacies, including

empanada An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover (food), turnover consisting of pastry and stuffing, filling, common in Culture of Spain, Spain, other Southern European countries, North African countries, South Asian countries, Latin American c ...

s, deditos and

carimañola A carimañola is a Central and South American meat-pie in a torpedo-shaped yuca fritter, stuffed with cheese, seasoned ground meat or shredded chicken and fried. It is found in Colombia and Panama. References See also * Colombian cuisine ...

Dominican Republic

The Dominican version was brought to the Dominican Republic by Lebanese immigrants.

Mexico

Some regional

Syrian cuisine Syrian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisine that traces back to ancient civilization in Syria and the region. Syrian specialties makes use of eggplant, zucchini, garlic, meat (most ...

and

Lebanese cuisine Lebanese cuisine is the culinary traditions and practices originating from Lebanon. It includes an abundance of Whole grain#Varieties, whole grains, Fruit#Food uses, fruits, Vegetable#Cultivation, vegetables, fresh Fish (food), fish and seafood. ...

s combine ''kibbeh'' with elements taken from Latin American cuisine, for example, it is typical of Syrian Mexicans in Mexico to eat the traditional kibbeh with salsa verde.

References

{{Cuisine of Turkey Appetizers Arab cuisine Armenian cuisine Assyrian cuisine Cypriot cuisine Egyptian cuisine Iranian cuisine Iraqi cuisine Israeli cuisine Jordanian cuisine Kurdish cuisine Lebanese cuisine Palestinian cuisine Syrian cuisine Stuffed dishes National dishes Street food Deep fried foods Semolina dishes Meat dishes Bulgur dishes Colombian cuisine Turkish cuisine Brazilian cuisine Mizrahi Jewish cuisine Mexican cuisine Wheat dishes Fried foods Middle Eastern cuisine Dominican Republic cuisine ku:Kutilk