Kibbeh (1875); Tabbouleh (1928)

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KIBBE--M-W has 1937.
TABBOULEH--OED and M-W have 1955.

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THE INNER LIFE OF
SYRIA, PALESTINE, AND THE HOLY LAND,
FROM MY PRIVATE JOURNAL
by Isabel Burton (Mrs. Richard Burton--ed.)
Vol. 1 (of 2)
Henry S. King & Co., London
1875

Pg. 164:
   There are plates full of rice, with bits of meat and fat; a kid roasted whole, stuffed with pistachio nuts; _Kibbeh_, or meat, chopped and mixed with Burgh'ol, bruised and boiled wheat; _Mudjadarat_, lentils (_Adas_), andrice, or burgh'ol, mixed with a brown sauce, and very tasty; _Kussah_, or _Badinjan_, cucumber or vegetable marrow scraped out and stuffed in sausage form, with chopped meat, herbs, rice, pepper, and salt.  The forced meat is called Mahshi.  Kubab, a dish known to Englishmen as Cubobs, is roast meat, fat and lean, sliced, and impaled with onions on a stick, like our cat's meat, and grilled at the fire with salt and pepper.  There are bowls of _Leben_, every sort of fruit and vegetable in season, and piles of sweetmeats.  The bread acts the part of plate; of these large, round, flat scones, some are thick, and others are thin as a wafer.

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DAMASCUS AND ITS PEOPLE:
SKETCHES OF MODERN LIFE IN SYRIA
by Mrs. Mackintosh
Seeley, Jackson and Halliday, London
1883

Pg. 53:
   They prefer their own dishes, which, though more troublesome in preparation, they consider far more savoury--such as "kibby," or meat pounded for a long time in a large mortar, with a heavy pestle, and then mixed with crushed wheat and snowbar, the seeds of the pine.  It is then spread out in a large copper dish, made on purpose, and covered with native butter and baked in an oven.  This is the most favourite dish of all.  Almost an equal favourite is the "koosa," or vegetable marrow, which is scooped out, and then filled with finely minced meat, and rice, and boiled in sour leben, that is, curdled milk.

Pg. 105:
   ..."mishmish" (apricots).

Pg. 192:
   "Dibs," or molasses, is made by boiling down the juice of the grape to about one-third, or one-half, of its original quantity, so that it becomes as thick as honey.

Pg. 203:
   The crowds who flocked to the house to see each new arrival feasted with "mughleh"--that is, a drink made from pounded rice and spices, which is poured into little bowls, and nuts and almonds sprinkled over the top of each bowl: but no "mughleh" is prepared for girls.  (...)  "The threshold weeps forty days when a girl is born," is an Arabic proverb...

Pg. 227: (Thrown in for you "bells on your toes" people--ed.)
"Come, little Bedawy, sit on my lap,
Pretty pearls shine on your little white cap;
   Rings on your ears,
      Rings on your nose,
   Rings on your fingers,
      And henna on your toes."

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UNDER SYRIAN STARS
by Princess Rahme Haidar
New York, Chicago
Fleming H. Revell Company
1929

Pg. 44:
   On the table is "kibbey"--sweetmeats, or "beklaway"--rice,--"leben, yebrak, mojederra, yebrak-arish, sheikh-el-meshy, meshy-cousa," and it is the custom for the honoured guest to be served with Arabian coffee.  The potage, or mojederra, is Esau's favourite dish, very common and very ancient, made with lentils and prepared with cracked wheat. (...)
   "Kibbey" is the Syrian plum pudding, mince pie and roast lamb, all in one.  It is made by pounding meat in a stone mortar.  The meat, taken from the leg of the lamb, is pounded and pounded and pounded until it becomes a soft pulp; then mixed together with the prepared cracked wheat, and pounded again for another hour.  It is seasoned with salt, pepper, (Pg. 45--ed.) mint and sweet pazzles; then made into large hollowed balls or cakes, stuffed with minced meat, pine nuts, fried onions and "semny"--Syrian butter; and then it is baked, roasted, or stewed.  This is the national dish, the dish that contains the fourteen elements of food.
   (...)
   Another favourite dish, the "yebrak-arish," is a roll of fresh tender grape leaves, stuffed with rice and tiny bits of lamb, flavoured with the essence of tomato and pine nuts, and then stewed.  In shape it resembles a tiny sausage-life affair; of which an American professor once said that "if there were sausages in heaven, he was certain they would be of this kind."
   On tours throughout Syria, one passes field after field of "simsum," a wheat-like plant, which flourishes with practically no cultivation. (...)  The oil is cooked until it forms what is known as "teheeney."

Pg. 49:
   "...tasty as "sheikh-el-meshy" (stuffed with rice and the tiny bits of the lean of lamb).  The egg-plant is meat without gristle and fish without bones."

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LETTERS FROM SYRIA
by Freya Stark
John Murray, London
1942

      BRUMANA. 3-3-28 (3 March 1928--ed.)
DARLING B.,
   We had an afternoon at the Chamouns' yesterday to eat "Tabouli," a delicious salad made of ground corn, mint and parsley.  You eat it out of a big dish in the middle of the table, using lettuce leaves and fingers to scoop it up with.  I was offered a fork, but of course refused.  I do feel a liitle sadder for it to-day; alas that experience will be paid for!