INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

I was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and I can assure you that this is the purest
and best recipe for Kibbeh I ever saw. And it is absolutely delicious.
(From Food from the Arab World Marie Karam Khayat and Margaret Clark
Keatinge, Khayat's, Beirut 1959)
Lebanese Kibbeh ( K Meat)
Kibbeh is virtually the national dish of Lebanon and to call it a meat loaf
does not quite raise it to the heights it deserves. Its traditional
preparation is dramatic. It requires a stone mortar and a heavy pestle
called the jorn and modaqqa. ( From Daniella: today, we lebanese, use a
food processor) The meat is pounded with rhythmic motions until it is
smooth and pasty. All the neighborhood knows the sound of kibbeh in the
making.
Select lamb from loin of the animal. Pound the cubed meat with a teaspoon
of salt in a stone mortar with a wooden mallet. Remove meat from mortar
when it becomes pasty. Now pound onion with a teaspoon of salt and the
pepper until it is reduced to a pulp. Combine meat and onion and pound
together until very smooth. Wash burghul well in running water but do this
quickly so that it does not soften. Press to remove water. Knead burghul
and meat with the hands. Pound together in mortar. Add salt to taste. Dip
mallet in ice water occasionally to keep meat moist and smooth. Properly
prepared kibbeh must be pounded at least an hour. Then it is ready to be
eaten as it is, or cooked in a variety of ways.
Preparation time may be shortened considerably by grinding meat several
times through fine blade of meat grinder. Grind onion twice. Grind onions
with meat once. Combine washed burghul with meat-onion mixture. Knead well,
seasoning with salt and pepper ( oriental pepper called BHAR). Grind this
mixture three times adding a tablespoon of ice water to keep it smooth.
Posted to JEWISH-FOOD digest V97 #004
From: Daniella De Picciotto <daniela@dialdata.com.br>
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1997 07:25:22 -0200 (EDT)

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