Hugo Arnold gets to grips with the Middle Eastern grain, bulgur wheat
The sea swept in, dousing the fishermen on the rocks with a mist of spray. Behind lay pock-marked skyscrapers that had once been luxurious hotels, rendered ruins by rocket attacks. Alongside, their replacements were being erected. Everywhere, street sellers hawked their wares - roasted broad beans, flat bread dusted with sumac and bottles of ice-cold fizzy drinks. This was Beirut, Paris of the Middle East, a culinary melting pot of the best kind.
In the markets, stalls made hummus to order and served it with pickles and whole sprigs of peppery mint. Not a rocket leaf in sight. My reason for going there was to find real tabbouleh. This is a dish much misunderstood in western Europe - scant use of parsley is only one of our mistakes. We are too inclined to bulk out with bulgur, the cheapest ingredient, otherwise known as burghul, or pourgouri, or cracked wheat.
The secret, Ahmed told me as we stood in his tiny café in the middle of the market, was allowing the dressing to be soaked up by the bulgur. Rush this stage, he advised, and you are likely to lose out.
So, we infused the bulgur in cold water and then rinsed and squeezed it as dry as possible. We then added lemon juice and salt and pepper and stirred the whole assembly so the wheat absorbed the liquid. We added lots of glorious green olive oil, along with herbs and vegetables.
Bulgur is grains of wheat, boiled and then dried so they crack. The grain has already been cooked, so only needs rehydrating. This can be done either by soaking it for about 30 minutes, or a brief boiling. Either way, you need to squeeze out the moisture so the grains absorb the more interesting dressing.
Quail, and even chicken, benefit from a stuffing based on bulgur, rich in raisins and spices too - saffron and cumin in particular. And while a pilaff is more often made with rice, a bulgur-based version makes a change. In Greece and Turkey they mix bulgur and yoghurt and dry it, for slicing into soups and stews as a thickener.