The Story:
Tabouli and hommus are probably the two most consistently present foods at a mezza—and the two that have found their way into US markets in some rather odd formations. I won’t give you a recipe for tabouli, but if you adjust the American recipe you have with the tips below, I hope you’ll be inspired. I’ll tell you what taboubli is not: It is not chunky, it is not mostly bulgar wheat or quinoa, and parsley is not the garnish (it’s the essence).

Tips for Making Great Tabouli:

• Keep it five parts finely chopped parsley (always flat leaf) to one part finely chopped mint. You can use the food processor but be careful not to get parts of it to puree. That’s just yuck.
• Very finely chop the onion and mix with lemon and soaked bulgar wheat (the fine grain kind)
• Use a lot less bulgar than an U.S. recipe calls for and make sure soak it for at 20-30 minutes before you add it.
• For that extra something something: a couple of dashes of allspice.