Kibbeh


Kibbeh, also kubba and other spellings, is a Levantine dish made of bulgur, minced onions, and finely ground lean beef, lamb, goat, or camel meat with Middle Eastern spices.
Other types of kibbeh may be shaped into balls or patties, and baked, cooked in broth, or served raw. Kibbeh is considered to be the national dish of many Middle Eastern countries.
Kibbeh is a popular dish in Middle Eastern cuisine. Mainly, it is found in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt , Iraq, as well as Armenia, Iran, Israel, Cyprus and in Turkey it is called içli köfte.
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.
Some regional Jewish cuisines combine kibbeh with elements taken from Latin American cuisine, for example, it is typical of Syrian Jews in Mexico to eat the traditional kibbeh with salsa verde.

Etymology

The word is derived from the Classical Arabic kubbah, which means "ball". Various transliterations of the name are used in different countries: in English, kibbe and kibbeh.

Variations

In Levantine cuisine, a variety of dishes made with bulghur and minced lamb are called kibbeh. The northern Syrian city of Aleppo is famous for having more than 17 different types. These include kibbeh prepared with sumac, yogurt, quince, lemon juice, pomegranate sauce, cherry sauce, and other varieties, such as the "disk" kibbeh, the "plate" kibbeh and the raw kibbeh.
Kibbeh nayyeh is a raw dish made from a mixture of bulghur, 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, garnished with mint leaves and olive oil, and served with green onions or scallions, green hot peppers, and pita/pocket bread or markouk bread.
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. Kubbat Shorba is an Iraqi-Kurdish version prepared as a stew, commonly made with tomato sauce and spices. 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 and butter broth with stewed cabbage leaves. Another soup, known as kibbeh hamda, consists of a chicken stock with vegetables, 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.
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, tequeños and carimañolas.