The earliest archaeological evidence for wheat cultivation comes from the Levant.
Originated in the Middle East, wheat has been a staple food since ancient times .
Wheat easily processed into various types of food. Wheat is the major ingredient in most breads, crackers, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, macaroni, pizza, and many prepared dishes. Wheat is common thickener in soups and sauces.
Semolina
Semolina is a wheat by product, coarsely ground durum wheat, a highly glutinous (hard) wheat. It is also made into the staple couscous. Semolina is used in many brands of dried pasta because of its ability to stand up to kneading and molding.
The Greeks believed that burgul, another by product of wheat, was a gift from Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. Its uses are numerous. From salads to soup, from breads to desserts. It is a nutritious extender and thickener for meat dishes and soups. Bulgur will absorb twice its volume in water and can be used in place of rice in any recipe.
Kubbeh - Ethnic jewish-iraqi traditional dish for stuffed semolina patties in pumpkin sauce. Highly recommended. Kubbeh can be made by semolina or bulgur.
Kubbeh in pumpkin sauce
150 gr' semolina, salt, 3/4 cup water
1 chopped onion, 100 gr' minced meat, oil, 1/4 teas. baharat*, pinch cinnamon
Sauce - 1/2 kg. cubed pumpkin, 1 grated tomato, 1 lemon juice, 2 tabs. sugar, pinch pepper, pinch paprika, 100 gr' raisins, 1 tomato paste, 4-5 C water, salt, according to your taste.
Pour semolina into a bowl. Add salt and water gradually until mixture is flexible and convenient to work with. Wet hands and creat semolina balls. Placed on waxed paper.
Pan fry the onion with some oil. Add meat and fry it until meat loses its pink color. Season. Cool .
Create a hole in each ball , add some filling. Close ball and tight well while create flat patties. Take small pot, heat oil and add pumpkin, tomato, spices, raisins, sugar, lemon juice, tomato paste and water. Bring to boil and insert in the flat semolina burgers. Cook for 30-40 minutes on low heat.
Highly recommended dish.
Fried Kubbeh
3/4 lb bulgur
3/4 lb ground beef or lamb
2 onions
4 tabs chopped mint leaves
1 tabs chopped parsley
1 teas baharat
1 tesp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
Salt and pepper
Oil for frying
Soak bulgur in water for 20 minutes. Squeeze out as much watr as possible. Place onion, burghur, 1/2 lb beef and herbs in a food processor and run the machine to grind it into a fine dough. Add a little water if it becomes too hard. Season with salt, pepper, pcumin and cinnamon. Chill.
Chop 1 onion and cook it in oil until translucent. Add beef and stir until the redness disappeared. Season with salt, pepper and baharat.
Wet your hands , make balls with the dough and using your finger to make a hole in each patty, aiming at having a thin wall. Place 2 teas filling inside each patty and close giving them an oval shape. Deep fry . Eat warm.
Enjoy
Elinoar, aka Lior
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