Bulgur the noblest food achieved by wheat

Vegetarian Journal, Jan-Feb, 2004 by Habeeb Salloum

THE HOT WIND MADE MY BROTHER AND ME uncomfortable as we searched for wood scraps in the surrounding treeless prairie land. This was an important yearly task for us children in the age-old method of producing our yearly supply of bulgur. We had to find enough wood to be able to boil two bushels of wheat until the kernels were cooked. For this, we needed all the fire material we could find.

Locating the wood for cooking was only the first task in the making of bulgur. After the wheat was done, it had to be spread on white sheets in the sun to eliminate the moisture. When the kernels were bone-dry, we took the cooked product to our neighbor for chopping. Back home, we removed the loose parts of the bran by willowing the crushed, cooked wheat in the never-ending Saskatchewan wind. The bulgur was then again placed in the sun until it became dried.

Of course, we never looked forward to our bulgur-making days as children, it was a time of backbreaking work--a period, if possible, to be avoided. How many times we children wished we were like our neighbors who did not know that bulgur even existed.

In our modern times, this method of making bulgur, which is called in the lands where it is a staple and others from the Middle East, this delightful wheat is slowly becoming a familiar item among the general public in the western world.

Simple to prepare, this ancient food is an inexpensive, succulent, and versatile cereal. It is cooked in the same fashion as rice, which it commonly replaces, and takes about 20 minutes to prepare. It can be used in all types of dishes, and it can be employed in every course and every meal of the day.

Bulgur can be purchased in bulk or packaged. It comes in three sizes: coarse, medium, and fine. Over-all, the coarse bulgur is utilized in thick soups and stews; the medium as an ingredient in salads; and the fine as a main component in vegetarian patties, as a breakfast cereal, and as a principal element in some desserts.

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean stores tend to sell bulgur in all three sizes. Natural foods stores and supermarkets usually only sell the medium-sized. If you are able to find only the medium-sized bulgur, you can use it in all these recipes. The texture will not be the same for some of the dishes; however, there will be little variance in taste.

From the wide-ranging repertoire of bulgur dishes, I have selected these few for the uninitiated who wish 'the noblest food achieved by wheat,' is only a memory. In North America and almost all other countries where it is consumed, this first-rate wheat product is produced by machines, as well as electrically controlled ovens. Today, individuals can purchase machine-made bulgur from any Middle Eastern store, from some health foods outlets, and in a good number of supermarkets in large cities.

Also known as bulgar, bulgour, or burghul, this very versatile food, is believed to have been first eaten in the Euphrates Valley as far back as 5000 BC. Since then, it has been on the daily menu of the people of the Middle East. It has been only over the last few decades that segments of European and North American populations have come to know bulgur to some extent. Introduced by Armenians, Syrians, to travel through the culinary world of this healthy eatable. The spices included in the recipes are according to my taste. If you wish, they can be reduced or eliminated.