Kibbeh is traditionally a mixture of cracked wheat, chopped onion and mint, ground lamb or beef, and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and/or cloves – just a hint.
Back in 1980, I stumbled into a little quilt shop in Lake Charles, Louisiana on my lunch hour, and met Ava Broussard. She would be 99 years old now if she were still alive which means she was 37 years older than I am. So, in 1980, I was 26 and Mrs. Broussard would have been 63 . . almost the age I am now. Then when Chad was born, she was 70. She seemed so much older. She was a little tiny lady. Her husband had died years before I met her. She and I became good friends and she would invite me to her home for lunch often. She lived in a part of town where I wasn’t real comfortable going and she lived alone in a huge, older, well maintained two story home. She knew I loved good hamburgers and she made a delicious burger. She always had a garden so we had fresh, homegrown tomatoes. And if we didn’t have a burger, we had what we called “kibbie”. Mrs. Broussard made them and sold them. She would freeze them individually and wrap them and I think she sold them for $1 each but I can’t remember.
She always served lemonade with the kibbie or the burgers. I loved going to her house for lunch. We would either spend time in the garden or in her sewing room – just the break I needed from my work day.
Eventually, she left the big house in town, right off the interstate, and moved to a condo across the river to be near her son. I went there to visit her fairly often but her health was failing and she was no longer making kibbie. I wish I had been able to make it with her and learn how she made it.
Chad’s Quilt
When Chad was born, she made him this quilt. She was losing her eyesight but she went to the effort to make this little quilt for him. I kept the quilt and hardly let Chad use it. Mrs. Broussard was special to me and so was the quilt she made. I have now passed the quilt along to Addie.
But . . this weekend I am going to make kibbie. It may not be as good as Mrs. Broussard’s. I’ve never made it and I haven’t even had any in 30+ years but . . I’m going to make it and I’m going to keep making it til I get it right!
Sharon says
What a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing.
Swooze says
Is the kibble eaten like a burger in a bun?
Dottie N. says
Beautiful story and beautiful memories!
Ruth says
My oldest loves to “research” recipes and work out the flavorings. She actually managed to put together a recipe we had loved in France, which we called “couscous.” It had lamb and beef in a vegetable tomato sauce poured over couscous and was delicious! She figured it out and passed the recipe on to all of us. I made it once (time consuming) and found she had hit the nail on the head!
Good luck with the kibbeh!!
Donna says
I love stories like this. I have some memories of some very special older friends too. Oh My how I would like to have a n hour with them now!
Carol c says
But what is kiibbie? U never really said.