Kibbeh b Laban

Kibbeh b Laban is one of the most refined and technically demanding dishes in Lebanese cooking. Torpedo-shaped kibbeh — a thin outer shell of fine bulgur wheat blended with minced lamb — are poached gently in a silky, stabilised yoghurt sauce seasoned with dried mint and garlic. The yoghurt is never curdled, never thin: it's a proper creamy sauce that envelops each kibbeh like a warm, tangy blanket.

Making kibbeh from scratch is labour-intensive — the bulgur must be soaked and ground together with the meat, then shaped by hand one piece at a time, each shell uniform in thickness. Getting the yoghurt sauce right is equally demanding: it needs constant attention and the correct technique (egg stabilisation, one-directional stirring) to stay smooth. This is skilled home cooking at its most exacting.

The result is cooling and warming at once — the tangy yoghurt cuts through the richness of the lamb, and the dried mint runs through every spoonful. It's a dish that tastes like someone's grandmother made it with love. Each tanjara serves 4–5 people.