Kibbeh nayyeh

Fine bulgur is softened in water and worked together with finely ground lamb or beef. Maureen Abood’s family recipe mixes the meat and grain with puréed sweet onion, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and black pepper. Her account recalls her father Camille preparing the mixture and her mother shaping it for the table.^[1]

The kibbeh can be formed into a mound on an oval platter or flattened and decorated with the marks of a spoon or fork. Abood suggests fresh mint, sweet onion and toasted pine nuts as garnishes, with pita and labneh, a strained yoghurt, alongside. Her family’s serving used mint from the garden and slices of sweet white onion.^[1]