Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh, also transcribed tabouleh, tabbouli, tabouli, or taboulah, is a Levantine salad of finely chopped parsley, soaked bulgur, tomatoes, mint, and onion, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sweet pepper. Some variations add lettuce, or use semolina instead of bulgur.
Tabbouleh is traditionally served as part of a mezze in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Arab world. Like hummus, baba ghanoush, pita bread, and other elements of Arab cuisine, tabbouleh has become a popular food in the United States.
Etymology
The Levantine Arabic is derived from the Arabic word from the Aramaic root word or more literally "dip". Use of the word in English first appeared in the 1950s.History
Originally from the mountains of Lebanon and Syria, tabbouleh has become one of the most popular salads in the Middle East. The wheat variety salamouni cultivated in the Beqaa Valley region in Lebanon, was considered as particularly well-suited for making bulgur, a basic ingredient of tabbouleh. In Lebanon, the Lebanese National Tabbouleh Day is a yearly festivity day dedicated to Tabbouleh., it is celebrated the first Saturday of the month of July.Tabbouleh made by Syrian Jews uses bulgur as the main ingredient, rather than parsley, this variety was introduced by them to Israel and into the US in the 1970s.
Regional variations
In the Arab world, especially Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, it is usually served as part of a meze. The Syrian and the Lebanese use more parsley than bulgur wheat in their dish. A Turkish variation of the dish known as kısır, and a similar Armenian dish known as use far more bulgur than parsley. Another ancient variant is called. In the Dominican Republic, a local version introduced by Syrian and Lebanese immigrants is called Tipile.Traditional Levantine tabbouleh has more herbs than bulgur, whereas western adaptations contain more bulgur than parsley. The bulgur-heavy variety is widely popular in Israel. Michael Solomonov described Palestinian-made tabbouleh as "80 percent parsley."