It's Mark Wiens.

I'm in the north of Lebanon,

in a small village that's known for a dish called kibbeh.

Now kibbeh is,

it's a dish known throughout the Levant,

especially in Lebanon and Syria

of minced meat and bulgur wheat.

And before coming to Lebanon,

all I really knew was one type of kibbeh,

but in fact there are many different types of kibbeh

prepared in many different ways.

And so today we have a very special opportunity.

Kamel has arranged with one of his friends

to prepare for us a full kibbeh spread of dishes,

different varieties, types of kibbeh.

I'm very excited to see the entire process

and I'm gonna show everything with you in this video.

(upbeat music)

(coffee splashing and dripping)

My favorite time in the afternoon.

Oh, it's about to spill,

is afternoon coffee time,

especially when I'm at home editing videos.

Before getting started with the main video,

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Thanks again to NordVPN

and let's get back to the food video.

This location, this restaurant, first of all,

is just spectacular.

These trees, this entire courtyard

is just fully shaded by huge trees, huge leafy trees,

right next to a rushing river.

You hear the sound of the water,

you're sitting in the shade, the fresh air.

This village specifically

is known for kibbeh throughout Lebanon.

Many say this is where the best kibbeh comes from.

(upbeat music)

(speaking foreign language)

A beverage that I could continuously drink

throughout the entire day, non-stop.

At the restaurant though,

you typically serve just all types of Lebanese food?

All types of mezze? - Yeah.

- [Mark] Okay, but specializing in kibbeh?

- [Kamel] So we try to crumble it as much as possible.

- If there's one thing

I have learned so far being in Lebanon

is that there's always food before food.

- [Fadi] Now I'm smiling.

- The mezze is the different dishes, the vegetables.

So we're enjoying a little breakfast and coffee

before getting into the kibbeh.

- Fell in love with the Lebanese breads.

- Yeah. - And for a good reason.

One for me

and one for you.

- Okay, so with the crispy Lebanese bread,

the shanklish mixed with tomatoes,

green onions and olive oil.

And you kind of get that,

it looks like that crumbly cottage cheese-y texture.

Oh. - If I may,

just follow it up. - Oh yeah.

Follow it.

Oh, thank you, Kamel. - And tomato.

- Follow it.

There's always a chaser in Lebanon as well.

And for the shanklish, it should be mint and tomato.

- Perfect. - Oh, yeah.

Ooh, wow, that mint.

Like it's mild but strong at the same time.

I'm gonna chase the shanklish with a tomato as well.

The juiciest tomatoes.

- Look at the hummus, look at the labneh.

There's something really really wrong with these two dishes

that we need to fix.

What is it?

- Add an oil. - Aha!

There you go.

Immediately, no hesitation.

You're a local now.

- [Mark] Okay.

Fadi.

- [Fadi] Wow.

(speaking foreign language)

- Okay, it's time for a hummus.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, that hummus is amazing.

You can taste the lemon in it, right?

More than others.

That hummus is amazing.

For me I think it's so good because of the lemon bite in it.

You can taste the lemon in it.

For the eggs, and we just got a piece of man'oushe

which is bread topped in za'atar.

More food just always appears when you're in Lebanon.

I think I'm gonna put the egg.

I'm gonna set the egg right on top of that.

Look at that za'atar.

The lemony zest, the thyme in there, the sesame seeds.

I just have to add some hummus to this.

Okay, they're calling me now.

It is time.

They're calling me now.

It's time to start on the kibbeh.

(upbeat music)

Yes.

It's awesome.

- Traditional stone mortar for the kibbeh.

It's very traditional.

So back in the day,

whenever someone wanted to marry a girl from town,

the challenge to test whether the guy was strong enough

was to carry the whole thing with one hand, one arm,

just above his head and put it back.

(loud pounding) (speaking foreign language)

- The bulgur? - Bulgur.

- This is something that is not done very often anymore

but this is the traditional way to make kibbeh.

To pound the meat using a,

it's a really huge, like an entire stone mortar

and it's like a mallet, a very thick pestle.

It's a very very fine mince, this time of beef,

and then the other mixture ingredient

is cracked bulgur wheat

which is also mixed with a variety

of I think about seven different spices they said.

- She said seven spices and salt.

- It's called the all spice mix.

- All spice mix.

It's kind of cinnamon-y though, generally, right?

- [Kamel] These tendons and stuff when they're pounding,

you see a white string?

You just pull it out

as opposed to just mixing it in.

So they're pounding.

And that's the traditional.

- You can tell her experience.

I guarantee, she makes that look way easier than it is.

(speaking foreign language)

That deserves a-- - I mean, it's perfect.

- That deserves an ovation for sure.

You do not get that skill overnight.

She did it so fast.

She made two of them,

then all of a sudden she took a couple spoons of the beef,

pure beef fat,

put it into the center of one

then put them both together both bowl shapes,

of the dome shape, half domes together

into making a full sphere of meat and fat.

(applauding)

That is the most perfect ball of meat you'll ever see.

It's perfect.

It's symmetrical and that's just straight minced meat

and bulgur with fat in the center.

- [Kamel] This one, we're taking to the traditional bakery.

- Ah okay. - In the town.

(speaking foreign language)

- She's moving onto the next kibbeh.

She added more water so to give it a more,

I guess a less stick consistency.

She's about to put it into this giant pan full of olive oil.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Kamel] Mark, olive oil is sacred in this part of town.

- Sacred. - Yeah.

I immediately notice the olive trees.

- [Mark] That is a huge base of meat.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Kamel] So now patterns need to be applied.

- You can see how even it is, the entire thing,

just from her experience.

- [Kamel] Yes.

(speaking foreign language)

- They said that's both for art, for design,

and that's their design,

and then also for function, for cooking

so that everything is even.

So the olive oil probably oozes up.

I can already imagine the oozing olive oil

and meat juices and fats.

(speaking foreign language)

Ah, okay.

(speaking foreign language)

Now she's gonna demonstrate, show us the raw version.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Kamel] It's gonna be eaten raw.

- That was just a totally new experience for me.

I've never, I know so little about kibbeh

other than the,

I think it's the little football-shaped fried ones

that I've had at Lebanese restaurants.

But this is a whole different perspective.

It's such, I can already tell,

I know that kibbeh is the king of dishes,

in Lebanon, especially in this village.

For that big pizza pan meat spread at the bottom,

we're going to go to a traditional bakery.

So they're gonna bake it in a traditional Lebanese,

that's the way it's cooked.

Going actually to a traditional bakery to do that.

I can sit in the back.

I can sit at the back.

(laughing)

You've got a lot of responsibility, Fadi.

- Yes, yes, I do.

I'm holding the prized, handmade with love.

- [Kamel] And care.

- With history.

Look at that, look at that. - The shimmer.

- No no, look at the oil, how--

- [Kamel] Oh, yeah.

- [Mark] It's sprouting from that little hole.

- Back in the days,

the bakeries used to do all the bread in the morning

and then at noon all the women would come here