Kibbeh (, also kubba and other spellings; ar, كبة, kibba; tr, içli köfte) is a family of dishes based on spiced ground meat, onions, and grain, popular in
Middle Eastern cuisine
Middle Eastern cuisine or West Asian cuisine includes Arab, Armenian, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Cypriot, Egyptian, Georgian, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Kurdish, Lebanese, Palestinian and Turkish cuisines. Common ingredients include olives and ol ...
.
In
Levantine cuisine, kibbeh is usually made by pounding
bulgur wheat together with meat into a fine paste and forming it into balls with toasted pine nuts and spices. It may also be layered and cooked on a tray,
deep-fried, grilled, or served raw. In
Mesopotamian cuisine, versions with rice or
farina are found.
Some recipes add
semolina.
Kibbeh is considered to be a
national dish
A national dish is a culinary 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 that can be ...
of
Lebanon and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, and is a popular dish in the
Levant. Versions are found in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Iran, the Persian Gulf, Armenia, and Turkey,
[ and among Assyrian people. It is also found throughout Latin American countries that received substantial numbers of immigrants from the Levant during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as parts of North America.]
Etymology
The words ''kibbeh'' and ''kubba'' come from the Arabic verb , meaning "to form into a ball," and is thus cognate with "kebab
Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish that originates from cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the category are popular around the wor ...
".
Variations
Near East
In Levantine cuisine, a variety of dishes made with bulgur (cracked wheat) and minced lamb are called ''kibbeh''. Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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is famous for having more than 17 different types. These include ''kibbeh'' prepared with sumac (''kibbe sumāqiyye''), yogurt (''kibbe labaniyye''), quince
The quince (; ''Cydonia oblonga'') is the sole member of the genus ''Cydonia'' in the Malinae subtribe (which also contains apples and pears, among other fruits) of the Rosaceae family (biology), family. It is a deciduous tree that bears hard ...
(''kibbe safarjaliyye''), lemon juice (''kibbe ḥāmḍa''), pomegranate 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 nam ...
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'' is a raw dish made from a mixture of bulgur, very finely minced lamb or beef similar to steak tartare, and Middle Eastern spices, served on a platter, frequently as part of a '' meze'' in Lebanon and Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, 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), is a family of yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and neighboring areas. It includes the widely known version with an interior pocket, als ...
/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.[
''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, ]Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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. ''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.
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 and as the pre-fast meal on the day before Yom Kippur.
South America
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 Middle Eastern 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 empanadas, deditos and carimañolas.
Brazilian , is sometimes stuffed with '' catupiry'' or '' requeijão'', a sauce resembling ricotta and cream cheese of Portuguese origin. Most Brazilian ''kibbeh'' uses only ground beef, and not other types of meat. Other variations include tahini, ( texturized soy protein), (Japanese wheat gluten-based meat substitute) or tofu (soybean curd) as stuffing.
Some regional Jewish cuisines combine ''kibbeh'' with elements taken from Latin American cuisine, for example, it is typical of Syrian Jews
Syrian Jews ( he, יהודי סוריה ''Yehudey Surya'', ar, الْيَهُود السُّورِيُّون ''al-Yahūd as-Sūriyyūn'', colloquially called SYs in the United States) are Jews who lived in the region of the modern state of Syri ...
in Mexico to eat the traditional kibbeh with salsa verde.
See also
* List of Middle Eastern dishes
* List of deep fried foods
* List of stuffed dishes
*
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
Levantine 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
Wheat dishes
Fried foods
Middle Eastern cuisine
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