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The word mezze, taken from the Iranian language, means flavour and this concept includes a series of varied appetisers which are typical of the gastronomy of the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. In Turkey, they are usually served in establishments known as meyhane, where they sell coffee and alcoholic drinks, such as raki turco.  

In other countries such as the Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, mezze are the starters at large banquets and can be made from either vegetables or cheese, chicken or fish, stuffed patties or different dips for spreading on bread, typical dishes such as falafels (made from chickpeas), sambousek (vegetable patties), babaganoush (aubergine and garlic paste) and tabouleh, recipes which in Egypt are served at the table in small dishes. 

Tabouleh is a cold salad which is prepared as a mezze, a very refreshing dish which is basically made of couscous (cracked wheat), tomato and finely chopped fresh herbs. It is dressed with lemon juice. It is delicious for cold dinners or on slices of bread, served with all kinds of meat. It is usually served as a starter, in the middle of the table and it is customary not to remove it until the end of the meal, so that it can be enjoyed throughout. 

The basic ingredient, cracked wheat
There are different kinds of cracked wheat including bulgar and couscous. The former is wheat which has undergone a boiling and drying process and has then been divided into different thicknesses.  The type chosen depends on the dish that is to be made. Couscous, on the other hand, is the hard part of the ground wheat which has been turned into a kind of flour which requires steam in order to swell. It can be found in health shops or shops selling oriental products. If you do not have much time, one alternative to making a tabouleh is pre-cooked couscous, which allows you to make a recipe in just a few minutes.

In order to make it you start by soaking the cracked wheat. Depending on how hard it is, it will need more or less time to soften; it is then drained and put in a salad bowl. Another option is to put it in boiling salted water (you can also add some cumin), cover the bowl and leave it for five minutes so that the wheat swells. You add a little olive oil, run a fork through it and leave it to cool down. 

Whilst the couscous cools to room temperature, you chop the rest of the ingredients up into small pieces. The tomatoes are peeled, the seeds removed and the pulp is cut into small cubes which are dressed with oil and vinegar, whilst the onion and green pepper are chopped into small squares, like those prepared to garnish consommé. Finely chopped parsley and mint are usually added and optional ingredients are cucumber and raisins. This is all added to the couscous, stirred carefully, you add salt, a little olive oil and lemon juice and leave it to rest for a good while before serving, so that the flavours mix. It is important that none of the flavours dominates but that when you eat it you can detect a mixture of aromas. 

Different recipes
There are different variations on the original recipe. As such, for example, Egyptian and Lebanese tabouleh do not include green pepper in their recipes, but whilst the former contains ground pepper, Lebanese tabouleh contains spearmint instead of mint and is not dressed until just before serving with olive oil, fresh herbs and more salt and lemon. 
 
For the sake of presentation, before serving you can arrange several lettuce leaves on a tray making a flower shape and the tabouleh is divided into portions on top of each one, so that each person can take the salad directly from the dish, serving it using the lettuce. It is also often served with other raw vegetables and decorated with olives.