Bulgur whaet plays   a  role in Middle Easthern and  Southern Turkish cooking, and it has an amazingly long history.

Bulgur is one of the first  processed foods know to man.

From the Bible we learn that the ancient Hebrews ,Babylonians, and Hittites  were using  some kind of bulgur wheat four thousand years ago , and that in 1000 BC the Egyptians and other peoples of  the  Eastern Mediterranean were stil cooking and drying  wheat . The Israelites knew bulgur as dagan ,the  Romans called it cerealis, and other Middle Eastren peoples called it arisah , wich is the term used in the Bible, where it is translated as ‘ the first of the coarse meals’ .

According  to Biblical archacologist, early froms of bulgur were  basically parboiled and sun -dried wheat.The word BULGUR has many variations ,such as boulgur, burghul, burghoul, and balgur, and is very ancient origin. In the west today , bulgur most often know by this Turkish from of the word. Novadays in Turkey bulgur is  used in nearly  every tyepe of dish, uncliding soups, pilafs,salads, stuffed vegetables,and   even deserts and drinks.

 The bulgur wheat we eat today is a quick-cooking from of whole wheat that has been  cleaned, parboiled,dried,ground into particles, sifted into difrent-sized  pieces.    

medium -sized red wheat bulgur

caorse-sized white wheat bulgur

fine-sized red wheat bulgur

fine-sized white wheat bulgur

caorse-sized red wheat bulgur

This  process results in a nutritious, versatile wheat product with a pleasant nut -like flavor.

Bulgur is sometimes confused whit cracked wheat, but bulgur is different in that it has been pre-cooked, so it is ready to eat whit minimal cooking, or , after soaking in water or broth, can be miked whit other ingredients whitout any further cooking at all.   Bulgur is a particulary good replacement for converted rice in many dishes, becouse it is more nutritious than rice.

The health benefits of bulgur whweat are more valuable now than ever before, becouse people increasingly recognize the importance of including whole grains in their diets.

Whole grains  like bulgur  are a wholesome kind of carbohyrate becouse they  contain the healt-enhancing bran( the outer layer)  and the germ ( the internal embryo)  naturally found in all grains.

When grains are refined to make white flour and white rice , the bran germ, and all their healthful nutrients,antioxidents, and other disease- fighting plant chemicals are systematiclly removed.

Consumed    to excess  as they are now, refined starches act like sugars. Each is  widely considered a major culprit in making people over weight ,  and being excessively   overweight adversely affects blood lipids and blood sugar, which fosters heart disease  and diabets. In contrast to refined straches, no chemicals are used in the preparation of bulgur-hence its growing popularity as healh food and in vegetarian diets . It is an ideal food in a vegetarian diet becouse of its nutritional value and versatility. It makes for an axcellent meat substitute  in vegetarian dishes, and in an ingredient in many varieties of popular meatles burgers. Bulgur contains high levels of vitaminB ,    iron phosphours,and manganese. Besides its health benefits, an other advantage of bulgur is that it keeps exceptionally well.

BUYING      BULGUR

There are differences in the types of bulgur wheat produced in the United  States. The best  bulgur wheat is made from white Durum wheat and Red Turkish wheat  that give it pleasant, sweet flavor.It is distinguished by its golden-yellowish to ligth  brown color, even particale size,and softer texture. Bulgur comes in different particale sizes , so you should take care  to check whether you’re buying coarse, medium, fine or extra-fine  bulgur.

COOKING  BULGUR

Here is bulgur recipe that is  at least four thousand years old. Boil three cups of wather in a sauce pan and add  one cup of coarse bulgur , and pat of butter and salt. Cook until the wather  is absorbed. That ‘s it! This simple dish is extremly nourishing,

And if you can make this dish, you know just about all you’ll need to know to make any of the recipes in this web site blog.     BON APPETIT! or as Turkish AFIYET OLSUN!