Lebanon: Warak Enab

By Alexandra Bolivar

           Since I was a little girl of not even a year old, this was my favourite food. It all started one Christmas when I was 6 months old. I was crying because I was hungry, and my mother was driving so she could not feed me. My grandma had just made a pot of warak enab which was sitting beside my dad, so he decided to feed me that. It was the first solid food I have ever eaten.
           For Christmas, it has become tradition for my mom and I to sit down for hours and make this dish for Christmas time. Sometimes we go over to my aunt's house and they help us with the process. This recipe has been in my family for many years and has been passed down from generation to generation. My grandma used to be the one to bring this dish to Christmas, but now it's our turn.
           There are many different interpretations of this dish, and most of the different styles come from different ethnicities/origins, for example, Greek, Algerian, Lebanese, and Egyptian.

           For our family, this dish is mainly eaten during Christmastime, but will occasionally be eaten during other occasions such as Easter, Thanksgiving, and occasionally birthdays. Everyone in my family adores this dish, which makes it even more enjoyable to make even if it can take up to several hours to prepare.

Recipe

Ingredients

1. 1 jar grape leaves
2. ½ kg ground beef
3. 2 lemons
4. 2 tsp salt
5. 1 tsp pepper
6. 1 tsp all spice
7. 2 bouillon cubes, chicken flavour
8. scissors
9. ¾ cup medium grain calrose rice
10. ¼ cup canola oil
11. 1 bulb garlic
12. 1 tsp cinnamon
13. heavy weight
14. beef tails (optional, but gives a great flavour)
15. 2 tbsp butter

Procedure

1. Separate and peel the garlic.
2. Open the jar of grape leaves and drain the water. Without ripping the leaves, carefully take them out of the jar and place them in a large bowl of hot tap water. Let them soak for at least 10 minutes.
3. Place the rice in a sieve and rinse with warm water to remove excess starch. Mix and turn with the rice with your hands while under the water.
4. In a large bowl, place the ground beef, rice, salt, pepper, all spice, and cinnamon. Mix all ingredients with your hands.
5. Add oil. Mix again, adding more oil if necessary.
6. Once the leaves are done soaking, drain the water.
7. Separate the leaves, and cut each step of the leaf (just a little higher than where the leaf begins).
8. Lay a leaf flat on a plate, shiny side down (veins facing upwards).
9. Take a piece of the meat mixture and put it in the centre of the leaf.
10. Fold the bottom edges upwards. Fold the side edges over towards the middle. Roll the leaf towards the tip of the leaf.
11. In a medium-sized pot, place the beef tails along the rim of the pot.
12. Place the first layer of rolled leaves in the centre of the pot until it becomes flush with the beef tails. Also place garlic pieces in the centre.
13. Continue filling the pot layer by layer, placing garlic pieces in random places.
14. In a pot, dissolve the bouillon cubes in 2 cups of hot water.
15. Pour the broth onto the grape vine leaves.
16. Place a small plate in the centre of the pot, making sure that it is large enough to cover most of the leaves.
17. Add the butter in many pieces evenly on top of the leaves.
18. Add the weight on top of the plate (make sure the weight is clean, or wrapped in something clean (e.g. aluminum foil)).
19. Once the pot is boiling, bring the heat down and cover.
20. Check the pot occasionally to make sure there is enough liquid. If not, add some more chicken stock.
21. The grape vine leaves will be done once the meat inside is cooked.
22. Once the pot is done cooking, let it cool for 15 to 20 minutes.
23. Put a large plate on top of the pot and carefully but quickly flip it over. Bang the top of the pot gently so that the leaves on the bottom loosen. Carefully lift the pot off of the plate. Enjoy!
    
    
    

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