I read a children's book about an egocentric King who called his daughters to him and asked them each how they loved him. The older daughters were shrewd flatterers; they said they loved him as gold and diamonds, respectively, which pleased the vanity of the King. The little daughter though had not learned such arts and she did love him and so she said "I love you as I love salt!" She was banished and fled to the forest and was rescued by a prince et cetera, et cetera and many years later they had a successful restaurant and the King visited and, well, you can see where this is going- after a saltless but otherwise opulent banquet (served on gold! plates), she revealed her identity, and our foolish King realized that she was the only daughter who had truly loved him- for to her, he was no a luxury of the heart, but the most necessary thing. In order to share with you my angst in making (of necessity) a saltless tabbouleh, I wanted to share the story, and a search for it unearthed this whole slew of them:
It seems salt is universally adored, indispensable.
Back to family (and fairy tales), my mother-in-law, a lover of vibrant summer flavors and salads, is taking cortisone, and this often causes some swelling, the last thing you want in the July heat. Salt of course famously exacerbates this, and, not wanting her to end up like the Aunts (or indeed the peach itself) at the beginning of James and the Giant Peach, I set out to make an entirely saltless tabbouleh- one of her favorite things, and so packed with flavors I thought it may be a good recipe to adapt.
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| It will look like this: see how the bulgar is swelling up through the surface? |
First let me say that I do tabbouleh in an unorthodox way I have not read about and I would like to share it with you- it saves a step, and yields a more flavorful dish with a more sprightly texture. Rather than parboiling the bulgar or soaking it in warm water, I just give it a good wash in cold water and squeeze it dry, and put it on the bottom of a plastic container.Then I dice tomatoes and, with their ample juice, mix them with the juice of a lemon, (some salt to taste when it is for us), and plenty of oil.This I pour over the dry bulgar, and set in the refrigerator for several hours. The buglar swells with the flavorful juices, rising up through the tomato, and does not get watery.
When we are ready to have it, I add lots of very well chopped herbs- mint and parsley- an entire bunch of each- and one or two cucumbers in small dice. It's fabulous. We nearly always have some in the refrigerator. I can't stress enough the importance of the herbs' being finely chopped- large pieces are exhausting to chew and it seems like something made for a goat. Also, fine chopping keeps the tone of the dish refined middle-eastern (as opposed to messy hippy).
This time, having on hand the most fabulous orange peppers (the little ones that I did not stuff), and anxious to conceal the saltlessness of the affair, I diced and added them as well. It was fresh and delightful and the addition of the peppers brought in the sweet warmth of the sun. Then it struck me as I spied an orange on the counter- why not take it in this sweet, warm direction? I zested the orange and added both the zest and the juice and it brought out all the sunshine, strengthening the savory notes in contrast and flattering the peppers and tomatoes no end. Like salt, you would necessarily know it was there, but you'd sure miss it if it weren't.
So here is the recipe:
Mother-in-law Tabbouleh
1 C (170 g) dry bulgar
3 good-sized tomatoes (the size of a man's fist)
1 juicy lemon
1/4 C olive oil
2 cucumbers
an orange
a large bunch each of mint and of parsley
an orange pepper and a yellow pepper
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| Everything we need. |
Wash the bulgar well in cold water and squeeze it dry. Dice the tomatoes small and mix them with their juice and the juice of the lemon and the olive oil, and pour this over the bulgar. Put it in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight, to let the bulgar swell with the juices.
When you are ready to serve it, add one big bunch parsley and one of mint- washed well and squeezed out and chopped fine. Then dice one or two cucumbers and a yellow pepper and an orange pepper, mix these in, and finish with the juice and finely grated zest of an orange.
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| (at 11 o'clock we have tangy sumac to dust over, at 3 the bulgar, and at 6, the sadly unused salt, glittering beguilingly.) |
Of course, if there is no restriction of diet, salt makes this shine! Add a good teaspoon along with the tomato.
(Actually, salt makes everything shine):
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