Bulgur, a non-paste parboiled durum wheat product, is one of the oldest cereal-based foods.  Bulgur is used as a main dish or as one of the ingredients in most food consumed in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.  Bulgur can be made from bread wheat, durum, barley, and maize. However, durum is preferred because of its hardness and amber color. An estimated 15% of durum wheat in the Near East is used to make bulgur. 

In the Middle East, Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus, bulgur made at home or commercially follows the same steps with one exception: both hard red wheat and durum wheat are used for commercial bulgur; only durum wheat is used for homemade bulgur. 

Bulgur making involves three steps: 1) The wheat is cleaned, soaked in water, and cooked to gelatinize the starch. 2) The cooked grain is cooled, dried, moistened, peeled to remove the bran (optional), redried, and cleaned by winnowing. 3) The grain is milled and sieved into three or four size grades: coarse, fine, very fine, and flour.

Cooking/Use

Coarse bulgur is usually boiled and consumed in a similar fashion to rice, while fine bulgur is often baked in an admixture with ground meat.  The coarse bulgur must cook into a tender product with maximum retention of particle integrity when boiled.  The fine bulgur must exhibit optimum binding ability when mixed with meat and baked.

Fine bulgur is mixed with meat or poultry. Kibbeh, a mixture of bulgur and meat, can be cooked in different ways and is one of the most popular foods consumed throughout the Middle East.  Falafel, a deep-fried mixture of faba beans and bulgur, is a traditional food for both the rich and the poor in the Middle East. Salads, such as tabouleh, also can be prepared from bulgur.   

Kishk is served as a hot porridge or gruel. Made from bulgur, it is rich in fiber and minerals. In the eastern Mediterranean and the Indian subcontinent, kishk is made using low fat yogurt, parboiled cracked wheat (bulgur), and salt. The dough is typically prepared as a 4:1 ratio of yogurt to bulgur. The mixture is kneaded daily for up to 6 d at 35^oC (conditioning period), during which the bulgur hydrates. The dough is formed into nuggets, placed on trays, and dried in the sun for up to 7 d. The dried mixture is ground to powder.

Tabboulleh salad made from bulgur