Kibbe Nai, Lamb Tartar — Sitto's Kitchen

The one dish that is a warm memory of my grandmother's time is Kibbe Nai.

I can remember it on Sitto’s Mezze table, always topped with some olive oil and chopped parsley. The grownups would always enjoy it with a scallion on their plate. As a youngster, I loved just scooping it up with a wedge of Syrian bread.

Thinking back to that time, Kibbe Nai was always served at all of our church Haflas and Maharajans. Those Syrian ladies volunteering at St. Ann’s Melkite Church kitchen made sure that all our traditional Aleppo dishes were served to everyone.

Back to the Kibbe Nai... a friend of mine who received one of my cookbooks, exclaimed, "you eat raw meat?" I smiled and told him that Lamb Tartar is no different than Beef Tartar. If you trust the butcher and you enjoy lamb, it's really delicious. In fact, I told him that I ate it all while growing up and it never affected me in the way he imagined it would. Many times, people who are unfamiliar with some ethnic foods are leery of trying them.

I also told my friend that I started with the Kibbe Nai in the meat chapter, followed by several other traditional Kibbe recipes. The reader/cook could then go on from this basic recipe and create several more Aleppo Kibbe dishes.

If you learn this seemingly exotic but easy recipe, you can have the start of many more memorable dishes. And you'll be a real Syrian...no matter your ethnicity!