In This Family, Syrian Kibbeh Is Served with Mexican Salsa

Shared by Tamar Fasja Unikel
Recipe Roots: Aleppo, Syria > Mexico City > Chicago 

On Saturdays when Tamar Fasja Unikel was growing up in Mexico City, she would wait for her father to come home from synagogue for a brunch of bagels and lox. After the meal, the family would walk the 15 to 20 minutes to her grandparents’ home for a second mid-day meal. “I always ended up with a stomach ache and didn’t know why,” Tamar says jokingly “But you know why.” 

Every week until the COVID pandemic, her grandmother Ruth would welcome 20 or so family members to her home for Shabbat lunch. Aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered at a large table and an extra table for the kids was added when the party grew larger. “It’s what I miss most about Mexico,” Tamar, who now lives in Chicago and co-owns Masa Madre bakery, says.  

Ruth (second from the right) with her siblings in Mexico City in 1942.

Ruth serves Syrian dishes next to Mexican ones, reflecting the family’s past and present. One week, the table might be stacked tortillas, stuffed zucchini with a tamarind sauce, chicken with eggplant paired with rice, or barbacoa, a slow-cooked tender meat dish. Other weeks, there might be tacos, beef ribs cooked in Coca-Cola for a sticky, sweet finish, or freshly prepared salsa and kibbeh charola, a classic Middle Eastern recipe for meat and bulgur baked into a large format savory pie of sorts. In the family and the Jewish community Tamar was raised in Mexico City, it’s referred to as kipe, Tamar says, though it’s not clear why the spelling changed over the generations. 

Ruth (center) on her wedding day with her family in 1950.

Ruth’s Syrian heritage comes from her parents who emigrated from Aleppo in the early 1900s along with a community of Jews fleeing nationalism in the Ottoman Empire. In 1912, Tamar’s great-grandparents were the first Jewish couple from Aleppo to marry in Mexico City. At the time, there was no mikveh, a ritual Jewish bath that brides and grooms visit before their wedding, in the city, so they visited the public baths before the wedding celebration, Tamar’s mother Monica, explains. 

Over the past century, the family has celebrated Syrian recipes. Ruth’s sister Flora, who is 97-years-old, is also a keeper of the family recipes, documenting them in cookbooks called a Private Collection of a Gourmand, self-publishing her most recent one just a year ago. Mexican ingredients and dishes were also woven into the family’s cooking, creating a new repertoire. Ruth’s kipe is served with Mexican and Middle Eastern accompaniments. “You take a piece or two and add avocados and tahini and salsa,” Tamar explains. Together, it is a taste of her family. 

Ruth with her husband Jacobo in Mexico City in the 1950s.

And one that has followed Tamar. She moved to Chicago in 2014 to be with her then boyfriend, now husband, whose family is from Damascus and lives in Mexico City. Whenever his mother Olga visits, she brings a kipe or two with her from Mexico. 

Tamar hasn’t quite mastered the recipe yet — it is a work in progress. Recently, Olga spent time with Tamar, helping her practice the technique, showing her that it’s best to use a fork instead of a wooden spoon to get the right texture and to flatten “the raw meat and wheat mixture with both palms before placing it in the dish,” Tamar explains.  

“I’ve had a lot of calls with my grandmother where she kind of explains it. But I feel like it’s hard for her to explain. For her, it’s natural,” Tamar adds. For some recipes, it simply takes time — and maybe a large gathering around the table — to master them.

Kibbeh Charola (Baked Kibbeh)

Makes: 6 servings
Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients
1 cup coarse bulgur wheat
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1¼ pounds ground beef
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
¾  teaspoon black pepper, divided
3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
3 serrano chiles, finely chopped
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
¼ cup water

Preparation
1. Place the bulgur in a medium sized bowl and cover with room temperature water. Set aside for 1 hour. Drain and set aside.

2. Make the filling layer: Place 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into a skillet over medium heat and add the finely chopped onion. Saute for about 8 to 10 minutes, until softened and translucent. Add a third of the ground beef, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper into the pan and cook until the meat is golden, approximately 15 minutes. Transfer from heat and set aside. 

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a rectangular or oval baking pan that is about 9 inches x 13 inches with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

4. Place the remaining beef, onion, mint, salt, pepper, bulgur, chiles, and cumin into a large bowl. Mix until combined well. Place half of this mixture into the baking dish and press it down with your fingers into one even layer that reaches the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the cooked beef and onion mixture on top of the first layer evenly. Place the remaining raw beef and bulgur mixture on top in an even layer and press down to flatten the top surface. Use the tip of a knife to score about 4 vertical lines and 4 more lines crossing diagonally over to create a criss cross pattern. Make sure the knife cuts through the mixture to reach the bottom of the pan. Pour ¼ cup of water and ¼ cup of oil over the mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and transfer into the oven. Bake for 1 hour and then uncover the kibbeh and continue baking for 30 to 45 more minutes until the kibbeh is deep golden brown. 

5. Serve with salsa and smashed avocado and lime.

Salsa Cruda

Makes: 6 servings
Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
4 vine tomatoes, finely chopped
½ yellow onion, finely chopped
1 serrano chile, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
¾ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation
1. Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well.

2. Serve at room temperature.