Fans of Mediterranean food will be familiar with the
Tabouli salad made from parsley, mint leaves, tomatoes, lemon juice and olive oil.
Perfect Pita's menu, theperfectpita.com/menu, has a special vegan section, including white bean salad, shepherd salad,
tabouli, stuffed grape leaves, falafel, navy bean soup, and hummus.
I still make all these things -- leg of lamb, stuffed chicken, sauted fish, grape leaves, stuffed squash, kabob, kefta, green beans with lamb shanks,
tabouli, tahini, hummus, all of it.
What started the heated exchange was my response to a tweet by celebrity chef Rachael Ray in which she referred to "Israeli" - meze, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, beet dip, eggplant and sun-dried tomato dip, walnut and red pepper dip, and
tabouli".
In Lebanon, we eat a salad called
tabouli. This salad should be a little bit sour; it is part of the recipe.
The basic meze for two consists of humus, mutabbal, mouhamarah, kishki, falafel, shandawar, fatayer bil jobn,
tabouli, fatoush and the mixed grill.
But a few days ago, inside a block of council flats, I found Nisrine Hussein and her husband Tamer Zaarour serving up piles of home-made
tabouli salad served with thick Syrian coffee.
"Once you have the
tabouli, you need the hummus, the baba ganouj, the grape leaves.
There is Lebanese
tabouli salad, and cranberry and cauliflower couscous.
At Muhlenberg, the freshly made organic
tabouli salad is so popular that production increased from 35 to 110 pounds per day.
After Keefer and I chatted, I took home a TLC Sandwich, stuffed with avocados and greens, a side of quinoa
tabouli, and an order of Crispy Fried Buffalo Cauliflower.
While homemade kibbee,
tabouli, and hummus are the main attraction at the event, this year's heritage festival will also highlight the Lebanese photo booth.