Mainland Brazil · Volume 43, São Paulo, the Immigrant Metropolis and Coffee Interior
Kibe
Levant, Syrian and Lebanese tradition, São Paulo
Illustration
- Time
- 35 minutes
As tradition built it
Kibe cru
Serves 6. About 20 minutes, after soaking the bulgur at least 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- 240ml bulgur for kibe
- 500g topside, minced twice
- ½ onion, chopped
- 1½ tsp Syrian pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 ice cubes
To serve
Method
- Wash the bulgur until the water runs clear, then soak it in cold water at least 15 minutes and drain it well.
- Mix the meat, onion, bulgur, Syrian pepper and salt well in a bowl, and pass the mixture through a meat processor.
- Add the ice and work it in with your hands until it melts and the mixture is even.
- Spread it on a shallow plate, smooth it with the back of a wet spoon, and score lines with a fork or knife.
- Serve with mint leaves, olive oil, chopped onion and pão sírio. It keeps a day, covered, in the fridge.
Notes
The clearest Brazilian departure from the Levantine original is the fried, filled version, quibe frito, built around a core of requeijão or plain cheese at its centre, a specifically local addition with no Middle Eastern ancestor.
The recipe is Nestlé Brasil's quibe cru. Ana Luiza Bark, daughter of a Lebanese father, freezes the meat an hour first to keep its colour, washes the bulgur and kneads it 10 to 15 minutes without soaking, blends onion, Syrian pepper, cumin and mint into it, and adds the meat last with two ice cubes so the heat of the hand does not change it.
What a modern chef changes
Ice-cold mincing, held to the dish's own discipline
Rung 4: ice-cold mincing for kibe cru
Method
- Soak the bulgur the standard minimum eight hours, then dehydrate it briefly before working it into the meat, for a firmer shell that holds its shape through frying rather than turning pasty in the centre.
- Grind the spice blend, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and black pepper, fresh in the spice grinder immediately before mixing rather than using a pre-ground jar.
- For the raw version, chill the mixing bowl itself over ice before the meat ever goes in, holding the whole process at the low, controlled temperature the dish needs to be served safely and well.