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Tabbouleh I

A Middle Eastern salad of bulgur wheat, parsley, tomatoes, and bell peppers dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Tabbouleh I

Serves 8
Time4 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the wheat

  1. Cover the wheat in boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes.

  2. Drain the wheat.

  3. Stir in lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the wheat.

  4. Refrigerate while the rest of the vegetables are being chopped.

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Core and finely chop the bell peppers.

  2. Remove the larger stems from the parsley and finely chop.

  3. Drop the tomatoes in boiling water for 20 seconds. Run the tomatoes under cold water.

  4. Quarter the tomatoes and discard the seeds. Chop the tomatoes finely.

Combine and chill

  1. Mix all vegetables, olives, and nutmeg into the wheat.

  2. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

207Calories
3 gProtein
15 gFat
18 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Olive1 large (4g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Bulgurnot in our table0
Wheatnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Bulgur wheat
Absorbs the lemon juice and oil, forming the bulk and chewy texture of the salad.
Parsley
Provides the main green herb flavor and fresh aroma that defines the salad.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps soften the bulgur.
Olive oil
Adds fat that carries flavor and coats the grains to keep them separate.
Tomatoes
Contribute moisture and sweetness that blend into the dressing.

The step that matters

Draining the bulgur well. Excess water left in the wheat dilutes the lemon juice and oil and makes the salad soggy. Draining and letting the grains cool before dressing keeps the texture light and the flavors concentrated.

Swap the nutmeg

The recipe marks nutmeg as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bulgur, wheat, olive, lemon, pepper, parsley, tomato):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Basilfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bulgur, wheat, olive, lemon, pepper, parsley, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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