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• Spring Salad: Tasty, colorful tabule

Thankfully, Western Armenian cuisine is devoid of the usage of the coriander leaft (cilantro). I, like many others, find the overusage of cilantro in Eastern Armenian cuisine to be disturbing. It seems to have been reduced in recent years but there is still a long way to go in the battle against "hamem". Nice recipe and beautiful presentation but spare me the cilantro! ...

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“It is necessary to mix the bulgur properly, so that it absorbs water well. Of course, it is much better to mix the bulgur with hands to feel the wetness properly,” says Hasmik Mkrtchyan, 36.

Hasmik is preparing tabule, a staple of Armenian (and Middle Eastern) salads. Bulgur and different greens (parsley, coriander, green onion, dill, and tarragon) are the foundation of tabule, a dish usually prepared in spring and in autumn, when there are plenty of fresh greens.

The wet bulgur must rest for about an hour until the grains swell. As it sits, Hasmik chops greens, the crucial ingredient for taste and appearance. Among the greens are bundles of parsley, coriander, onion.

“We should not chop dill and tarragon too much. You may even add half a bundle of chopped lettuce, which gives an interesting flavor to tabule,” she says.

After chopping the greens, Hasmik passes to the next part of the process, stirring the bulgar so that the grains are not stuck together.

“We add the chopped greens, two tablespoon tomato paste, black pepper and salt, depending on taste to the bulgur,” Hasmik explains.

She squeezes one lemon on the mass, adds 0.5 liters oil, and starts mixing the whole mass properly. The greens become shiny from the oil and in 10 minutes she serves, decorated with lettuce and grape leaves.

The following ingredients are necessary to prepare tabule:

1 kg bulgur
1 bundle parsley (some 200 grams)
1 bundle coriander
1 bundle green onion
0.5 bundles lettuce
0.5 bundles tarragon and dill
1 lemon
2 tablespoon tomato paste
0.5 liters oil
salt and black pepper depending on taste

How to prepare tabule:
Soak 1 kg bulgur in a bowl so that only slight water remains on the bowl bottom. By the time bulgur grains absorb water, chop greens: parsley, coriander, green onion, dill, tarragon, lettuce. In an hour when the bulgur is completely wet, add the chopped greens to the bulgur. Add two tablespoon tomato paste, salt, black pepper (depending on taste) and 0.5 liters oil. Then add 1 lemon juice to the mass, and stir properly. Serve with either lettuce or grape leaves.