By Abdul Hafiz Holani; Translation by Rana Abdul
(Zaman Al Wasl)- Kibbeh is not included in the daily dishes which Syrians used to eat before the revolution, because it is high expense and the requires large amount of time to prepare. On the contrary, it is a dish that is associated with major events such as Eids, Ramadan, weddings, and private feasts for family members as Oum Mohammad (84 years) a refugee from the village of al-Buwaydah al-Sharqiyah in al-Qusayr’s countryside.
Following the revolution, the presence of Kibbeh at meal times became a rarity, and it even raised surprise at times, on the one hand due to the situation of poverty and lack which refugees are living in Lebanon and on the other hand due this generation of girls having enough experience of how to prepare the dish.
For Oum Mohammad, the month of Ramada is considered an opportunity to remind her grandchildren in the refugee camps in Lebanon of this dish that is considered a ritual and tradition of Syrian families during the holy month of Ramadan.
-Measurements-
Kibbeh is one of the expensive dishes says Oum Mohammad and it requires for an average family (5 members) a kilogram of cow meat. It is mixed with 3 kilograms of soft bulgur wheat by pounding them together in a flint mortar until the bulgur and meat a homogenous past, and the more the mixture is pounded in the mortar the more the mixture holds together and is harmonious.
The old lady described the mortar that is a piece of stone made from blue flint, a longitudinal hole is carved inside it to enable a small amount of meat and bulgur to fit. The pestle is also made from flint and it weighs around a kilogram and a half. It is used to pound the mixture and knead it for it to become ready for the filling that is made from lamb meat and fat.
-Sealing the Kibbeh-
It is the second stage, as after pounding the bulgur and calf meat and the preparation of the mixture to absorb the filling. The filling is made from a kilogram of lamb meat and an ounce of fat that are cooked over the fire with salt, pepper, and other spices according to taste until it is cooked. The filling is placed inside the kibbeh and the kibbeh is closed in an action called “al-Tatebish” according to Oum Mohammad.
It involves constraining the kibbeh in the palm of one’s hand and turning it while lightly hitting it to seal the filling tightly inside the kibbeh. It is then ready to be grilled.
Oum Mohammad continues that after that one waits for the fire to burn out in the cooking grill and embers to appear so that the kibbeh does not burn and its flavor is not affected by the smoke. Usually wood is used such as dry tree branches, the best are olive branches, and when the fire is ready, the Kibbeh is rubbed lightly with some oil and then placed on the grill.
The grill is formed of a series of evenly spaced longitudinal and horizontal metal pieces that prevent the kibbeh from sticking to each other while providing the necessary space for the fire to remain continuously burning, this is usually done by fanning the flame with a piece of heavy carton paper. The kibbeh piece must be turned over repeatedly so that is does not burn and it usually requires less than a minute to be cooked.
-Kibbeh however agreed-
Oum Mohammad comes from the 1930s period, a time contemporary to the flint mortars and stone pestles, and she is unconvinced with electronic devices used in preparing the meat for the kibbeh. She is completely unconvinced with the way girls of this generation cook.
Oum Mohammad did not witness technological cooking devices in all her life expresses her longing today, while witnessing her first Kibbeh meal while the camp in Lebanon, for one of the corner stones of her humble countryside kitchen- the flint mortar.
(Zaman Al Wasl)- Kibbeh is not included in the daily dishes which Syrians used to eat before the revolution, because it is high expense and the requires large amount of time to prepare. On the contrary, it is a dish that is associated with major events such as Eids, Ramadan, weddings, and private feasts for family members as Oum Mohammad (84 years) a refugee from the village of al-Buwaydah al-Sharqiyah in al-Qusayr’s countryside.
Following the revolution, the presence of Kibbeh at meal times became a rarity, and it even raised surprise at times, on the one hand due to the situation of poverty and lack which refugees are living in Lebanon and on the other hand due this generation of girls having enough experience of how to prepare the dish.
For Oum Mohammad, the month of Ramada is considered an opportunity to remind her grandchildren in the refugee camps in Lebanon of this dish that is considered a ritual and tradition of Syrian families during the holy month of Ramadan.
-Measurements-
Kibbeh is one of the expensive dishes says Oum Mohammad and it requires for an average family (5 members) a kilogram of cow meat. It is mixed with 3 kilograms of soft bulgur wheat by pounding them together in a flint mortar until the bulgur and meat a homogenous past, and the more the mixture is pounded in the mortar the more the mixture holds together and is harmonious.
The old lady described the mortar that is a piece of stone made from blue flint, a longitudinal hole is carved inside it to enable a small amount of meat and bulgur to fit. The pestle is also made from flint and it weighs around a kilogram and a half. It is used to pound the mixture and knead it for it to become ready for the filling that is made from lamb meat and fat.
-Sealing the Kibbeh-
It is the second stage, as after pounding the bulgur and calf meat and the preparation of the mixture to absorb the filling. The filling is made from a kilogram of lamb meat and an ounce of fat that are cooked over the fire with salt, pepper, and other spices according to taste until it is cooked. The filling is placed inside the kibbeh and the kibbeh is closed in an action called “al-Tatebish” according to Oum Mohammad.
It involves constraining the kibbeh in the palm of one’s hand and turning it while lightly hitting it to seal the filling tightly inside the kibbeh. It is then ready to be grilled.
Oum Mohammad continues that after that one waits for the fire to burn out in the cooking grill and embers to appear so that the kibbeh does not burn and its flavor is not affected by the smoke. Usually wood is used such as dry tree branches, the best are olive branches, and when the fire is ready, the Kibbeh is rubbed lightly with some oil and then placed on the grill.
The grill is formed of a series of evenly spaced longitudinal and horizontal metal pieces that prevent the kibbeh from sticking to each other while providing the necessary space for the fire to remain continuously burning, this is usually done by fanning the flame with a piece of heavy carton paper. The kibbeh piece must be turned over repeatedly so that is does not burn and it usually requires less than a minute to be cooked.
-Kibbeh however agreed-
Oum Mohammad comes from the 1930s period, a time contemporary to the flint mortars and stone pestles, and she is unconvinced with electronic devices used in preparing the meat for the kibbeh. She is completely unconvinced with the way girls of this generation cook.
Oum Mohammad did not witness technological cooking devices in all her life expresses her longing today, while witnessing her first Kibbeh meal while the camp in Lebanon, for one of the corner stones of her humble countryside kitchen- the flint mortar.
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