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Tabbouleh

Name: Tabbouleh
Prep time: 40 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 30 g fine bulgur (burghul); 600 g firm ripe tomatoes, in 5 mm dice; 50 g spring onions, thinly sliced; 400 g flat-leaf parsley, most of the stalks removed, finely chopped; 70 g mint leaves, finely chopped; 0.25 tsp ground cinnamon; 0.5 tsp ground allspice; 0.25 tsp finely ground black pepper; 1 pinch sea salt; 1 piece lemon, juiced (or to taste); 150 ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 piece gem lettuces, quartered (or vine leaves or white cabbage leaves), to serve

تبولة

A Lebanese salad of hand-chopped parsley, mint, tomato and spring onion with a little fine bulgur, lemon and olive oil. In Anissa Helou's recipe the herbs and tomato dominate and the bulgur is only 30 g.

Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.

Servings: 6
Preparation: 40 min
Cooking: 0 min
Total: 40 min
Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Large sharp knife and board
Large mixing bowl; sieve

Substitutions

Bulgur (gluten-free) → Leave it out; the salad loses a little body but not its character.

Common mistakes

Chopping the herbs in a food processor: Helou warns it bruises them and leaves them mushy. Use a sharp knife.
Using wet herbs: dry them well after washing or the salad turns watery.
Dressing it ahead: serve as soon as it is mixed.

Storage & reheating

Best eaten within an hour. The chopped herbs, undressed, keep a few hours in the fridge under a damp cloth.

Allergens

Gluten

Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

Dietary

vegan · vegetarian

A herb salad, not a grain salad

The food writer Anissa Helou says she learned from her mother to use very little bulgur, and that the amount varies by region and family. In her recipe parsley and tomato dominate: 400 g parsley and 600 g tomatoes to 30 g bulgur. Cinnamon and allspice season it lightly.

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Knife work

The whole dish depends on chopping. Helou insists on a knife, because a food processor bruises the herbs and turns them mushy. The tomatoes are cut into 5 mm dice and drained before they go in, so their juice does not flood the salad.

The fine bulgur is only rinsed. It softens in the moisture of the tomatoes, lemon and oil while the salad is mixed, and the tabbouleh is eaten straight away, scooped up with lettuce, vine or cabbage leaves.

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