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Minced lamb, bulghur, minced onion, parsley, mint, salt, cumin, 7 spice and pepper make the mixture for the kibbehkeeb. The mixture is then fashioned into the torpedo-shaped ball stuffed with pine nuts onions and cooked lamb.

Kibbeh comes in a wide variety: Kibbeh nayee (raw Kibbeh), Kibbeh mehleeyah (fried Kibbeh), Kibbeh bi saneeyah (baked Kibbeh) and Kibbehkeeb (deep fried Kibbeh fashioned into little torpedo-shaped croquets stuffed with onions, minced meat and pine nuts).

Kibbeh is eaten in our household on a weekly basis, whether it is Kibbeh in its raw form, baked in a tray or in the croquet torpedoshaped balls (Kibbehkeeb). Kibbehkeeb is the most common food served with our mezze because of its convenience in eating and its tasty filling.

Kibbeh is considered the national dish of Lebanon and a Lebanese cooks are judged the quality of their Kibbeh.

Cooking Instructions:

Baked: coat oil on the base of the baking tray, place Kibeekeeb on the baking tray and cover in oil. The place in a conventional oven on 200 degrees Celsius for 35-40 mins.

Fried: place in a frying pan for 3 mins and then flip, remove when it changes to a brown colour.

History of Kibbeh

Originally Kibbeh was made by pounding lamb with a jorn (mortar) and modaqqa (pestle), then kneading in spices and soaked bulghur, but with the invention of the electric grinder and food processor the traditional way has all but disappeared except in the rural villages.

Kibbeh in its raw form and the deep fried croquets are a common part of the Lebanese Mezze. Raw Kibbeh (Kibbeh Nayee) in the Lebanese Mezze is usually accompanied by Arak (a Grappa or Ouzo like alcoholic beverage made up of crushed and tripled distilled grapes with aniseed flavouring, endearingly referred to as Lion’s milk).

Kibbeh is Lebanese staple and because of the length bulghur can keep and its nutritional content, I believe it has easily been consumed in the mountains of Lebanon for a few thousand years. And who could blame them with all its nutritional qualities, simple ingredients and delicious taste.

Like all Lebanese or Middle Eastern dishes its origins are wildly debated for the fact that almost everyone from different Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures have a their own version. But to trace back the origin of any dish you must look at the key ingredients.

So I have looked into the origin bulghur. Bulghur is a natural whole grain food with no chemical or additives used in its processing. Many of the wheat’s naturally occurring vitamins and minerals permeate the kernel during cooking, which maintains more nutritive content than other forms of processed wheat products.

Bulghur is rich in B vitamins, iron, phosphorous and manganese. Making wheat into bulghur is an ancient process that originated in the Mediterranean region and has been an integral part of the Middle Eastern cuisine for thousands of years.

Bulghur is considered to be man’s first processed food. Biblical references indicate that it was prepared by the ancient Babylonians, Hittites and Hebrew populations some 4,000 years ago, and Arabs, Egyptians and Roman civilisations record eating the dried cooked wheat as early as 1,000 BC.

For primitive people Bulghur was an excellent food because it can be stored for long periods of time. Its resistance to mould contamination and attacks by insects, mean the ancient preparation is still used today in rural and mountainous villages of Lebanon.