Burbara

Ingredients

Wheat

• 500 gwhole wheat berries, soaked overnight
• 2 litreswater
• 200 gsugar
• 2 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspground aniseed
• ½ tspground fennel seed
• a pinch of salt
• 100 graisins

To finish

• 100 gwalnuts, chopped
• 50 galmonds, blanched and slivered
• 50 gpistachios
• seeds of 1 pomegranate
• desiccated coconut
• extra ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Soak the wheat berries overnight in plenty of cold water, then drain them and discard the soaking water.
2. Cover them with the 2 litres of fresh water and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until the grains have split open and are tender but still clearly separate from one another. Cooked to mush it becomes a pudding, and burbara should be spoonable but distinctly grainy.
3. Top up with boiling water if the level drops too far. The finished dish sits in a sweet cloudy liquid rather than being dry, so keep it loose.
4. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon, aniseed, fennel and salt and simmer for a further 15 minutes.
5. Add the raisins for the last 5 minutes only, so that they plump up without disintegrating into the liquid.
6. Take it off the heat and let it cool to just warm. It thickens noticeably as it stands, because the wheat goes on absorbing.
7. Ladle into bowls and top generously with the walnuts, almonds, pistachios, coconut and pomegranate seeds.
8. Scatter over a little more cinnamon and serve warm or at room temperature.
9. It is made for 4 December, the feast of Saint Barbara, and bowls of it are sent round to the neighbours, which is as much a part of the custom as the eating.

Technique

• Keep the grains separate and the liquid loose. Both are easy to lose in the last twenty minutes.
• The nuts go on top rather than being stirred in, so that they stay crisp against the soft wheat.
• Pomegranate is the finishing touch that makes it look like a feast dish rather than a bowl of porridge.

Substitutions

• Pearl barley, which cooks faster and finishes softer.
• Bulgur is not a substitute. It is precooked and cracked and will collapse into porridge within minutes.

Variations

• The Lebanese and Syrian versions, generally heavier on the anise.
• With rose water or orange blossom water stirred in at the end.
• Kutia, the Slavic relative, made with poppy seeds and honey instead of sugar and spice.

History

Cooked for the feast of Saint Barbara on 4 December by Palestinian Christians and shared with neighbours.

Frequently asked questions

What is Burbara?

Burbara is a dessert from Palestine: boiled wheat berries sweetened with sugar, cinnamon, raisins, nuts and pomegranate. Cooked for the feast of Saint Barbara on 4 December by Palestinian Christians and shared with neighbours.

How long does Burbara take to make?

Burbara takes 15 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Burbara?

Yes, within limits. Pearl barley, which cooks faster and finishes softer. Bulgur is not a substitute. It is precooked and cracked and will collapse into porridge within minutes.

What is the most important thing to get right in Burbara?

Top up with boiling water if the level drops too far. The finished dish sits in a sweet cloudy liquid rather than being dry, so keep it loose.