kibbeh

[Victor Steinbok]

OED defines kibbeh n.

> In Middle Eastern (esp. Lebanese and Syrian) cookery: a mixture of
> meat, bulgar or rice, onion, and seasonings, ground together and
> typically served in the form of croquettes stuffed with a filling.

That is certainly one type of kibbeh. OED gives several forms: kibbeh,
kubbah, kubby, kibbee, kibbey, kibbi

The definition is actually fairly close, although bulgar should really
be bulgur (bulgar is listed as a variant form) and it's a part of the
croquette coating rather than the filling (although, I'm sure, some
recipe variations exist with bulgur or rice being a part of the filling).

But also the name variation is far broader.

In Egypt and among Sephardic Jews in Israel of North African extraction
the croquette is called kubeba and I am used to hearing this reference
in English (my ex's family is from Egypt and Israel, but I've seen
"kubeba" in cookbooks as well). Among other Sephardic Jews in Israel and
in Iraq, it is known as kubbeh. Turkish and Armenian name stands out
because it is completely different--kofta, koofta or kofte (more on that
below). But what's more intriguing is that parts of Iraq and Iran also
use the more /Indian/ name for a similar croquette--kubba or kooba. (
http://goo.gl/eyqOk ) As with many Middle Eastern specialties, the
direction of influence is unclear (although the underlying word appears
to be Semitic/Arabic).

But there is more than one "kibbeh". Ordering kibbeh in some
Lebanese/Syrian restaurants will get you a plate resembling beef
tartare. It's a mixture of raw ground meat (beef or lamb) with bulgur
and black ad hot pepper, served with a side of raw onions and pita. It
is essentially a raw meatball. In those parts, the fried croquette
version is usually not called just kibbeh, but has another word attached
to indicate the difference, e.g., kibbeh mahshi or aqras kibbeh or
kibbeh nabulsieh. In Turkey, the relationship is reversed, with the raw
version requiring an explanatory modifier.

Now, back to "kofta".

As I mentioned, kofta is the Turkish name given to the fried croquettes.
But OED entry (correctly) identifies kofta as an Indian dish.

> A rissole, made of meat or fish, popular in the East. Also /attrib./

Ignoring the dubious (today) "in the East", rissole is just another word
for croquette. In parts of India and Pakistan, however, you will also
find kofta kebab, which is cooked "naked"--without the cereal shell. It
seems this definition also needs to be expanded (not to mention fixing
the "in the East" descriptor). And the etymology is interesting: "Hindi
/kofta/ pounded meat." How sure are we that this is the original Hindi
term and not something that's been borrowed with a new meaning?


This also leads me to a seemingly unrelated observation that "kofta" in
Russian means "cardigan" (the meaning is nearly identical, although for
some people "kofta" encompasses light pullover sweaters). Russians also
have a traditional garb called "kaftan". That should sound familiar as
English caftan. OED gives a nice treatment, with the etymology note: "<
Turkish qaftān, also used in Persian. In early use apparently taken
immediately from the French cafetan." What's missing? The Russians.
French Wiktionary shows "Translitération du russe "кафтан", venant
lui-même du turc ottoman " قفطان " (qaftān)."
(http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cafetan)

There is an additional twist. The Russian kaftan is a showy outer
garment (a variant can be seen worn by some Ultra-Orthodox Jewish
sects--they look like long robes). The Turkish qaftan was an
undergarment--essentially, a long undershirt. The Russian borrowing from
Ottoman Turks is highly unlikely--and, I believe, actually predates
Turkish use. IMO the inescapable conclusion is that, like many other
Turkic words in the Russian lexicon (e.g., bashmak, balagan--which later
made it into Yiddish and Modern Hebrew, but it might also be
Persian~think, balcony), the word actually came from the Golden Horde
invasion, which is how the Ottomans got it as well. If the French got it
from the Russians and the Russians got it from the Mongols, and the
original English usage was copied directly from the French, why does the
OED say that the origin is Turkish? Turkish seems to be a parallel
evolutionary branch, not the root.

Now, are kofta and kaftan related? Or is kofta derived from something
similar to the food item kofta? Or is it unrelated to both qaftan and
kofta and originates from something like qoftah? I have no idea. I'll
have to leave this part to specialists. The reason I have to ask is
because of the listed OED etymology of kofta: Hindi kofta pounded meat.
Contrast this with Arabic kibbi which is supposedly "rolled into a ball"
(kibbe == ball). If the origin is indeed Hindi, then it's hard to
explain any possible connection--or, for that matter, how it ended up in
Turkey while the Arabic-speaking territories use a completely unrelated
Arabic word. It is implausible for Turkish kofta and Indian kofta--two
remarkably similar food items--to have been derived completely
independently. Lacking sufficient historical evidence and means of
verification, I'll propose a different hypothesis that just might hold
water (I know, my etymological stabs in the dark sometimes don't work
out at all). I would expect all three to be related and possibly predate
the Arabic coinage. The fact that the raw meat version exists plays a
role in this. Eating raw meat is generally frowned upon in the Middle
East. Hebrew scriptural proscription against consumption of blood (e.g.,
Jews traditionally cook liver in very particular ways to desiccate it as
much as possible) certainly play a role in it. So why have a raw meat
dish like kibbeh? It would make sense if the tradition came from nomadic
Turkic tribes who have had no qualms concerning blood and raw meat
products. Then the fried version would be rolled, coated and
cooked--hence the Arabic kibbeh, but also both the Turkish and Indian
kofta. I'm focusing on the "coated" part. If there is some intermediate
Turkic word for "coated" or "dressed" that sounds like a cognate to
kofta, that would explain all three--not to mention establishing the
direction of propagation of kibbeh recipes. In fact, it might also
account for the origin of kaftan/caftan. Of course, not having an IE or
Turkic background, I can't do much to confirm the hypothesis.

YMMV

VS-)

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