tabbouleh a prominent item in Near Eastern mezze, is best described as a refreshing salad of parsley, tomato, and burghul (cracked wheat) with spring onion and mint plus oil, lemon juice and seasoning (and any of several optional ingredients such as ground cinnamon and allspice). The proportions vary from place to place, and from family to family, some preferring a mixture which is almost purely green, others liking a greater proportion of tomato and burghul.
Anissa Helou (1994), describing its preparation in the Lebanon (widely perceived as its original home territory), emphasizes that the herbs should be chopped by hand, with a very sharp knife, not in a food processor (which would risk making them mushy). Tabbouleh is to be served with inner Cos lettuce (or young vine or white cabbage) leaves, with which it is scooped up to be eaten.
