I had a hard time deciding what recipe and culture to research for this week’s passion blog, but after a lot of research, I decided on making Malfouf. Malfouf is a dish comprised of cabbage leaves stuffed with various delicious ingredients. When I came across this recipe, I remembered that I had seated Malfouf before and absolutely loved it, so I was excited to try to make them myself.
Malfouf is a very popular Middle Eastern dish. Various regions and countries put their own spin on the recipe, but pretty much all of them include a foundation of rolled cabbage filled with rice. The spices and other ingredients that people choose to add to their Malfouf are really a matter of personal preference because this recipe is known to be really adaptable. I was interested to learn about how this recipe is a very popular comfort dish in Syria and Lebanon, as well as many other places.
As I mentioned before, Malfouf can be made in many different ways which made it somewhat challenging to pick a recipe to use. For that reason, I used a combination of a few recipes. This also helped when I had trouble finding an ingredient at my local supermarket because I could compare the different alternatives that the various recipes suggested. In terms of ingredients, most of them were easy to find at my local supermarket. There were some ingredients I had to substitute for their generic counterpart (like the type of rice) just because I couldn’t find it at my store.
The final product was really delicious. As someone who loves garlic, I definitely appreciated how much was in this dish. I also loved how many different spices were in the recipe because they made the final product so flavorful. I was really impressed with how well the Malfouf turned out because I was really doubting myself by the end of it. The process of actually rolling the cabbage leaves was probably the hardest part. This was definitely one of the harder recipes I’ve tried for this blog, but it was also one of the tastiest.
I’ll be honest, this recipe was pretty time-consuming. That’s not surprising though because this is a pretty complicated, multi-step recipe between boiling the leaves, making the rice, and putting everything together. I would say that the whole process took me about two hours in all. However, if you have the time, I think making this dish is really worth the time commitment. When you think about all of the work you put into making it makes the final product especially enjoyable. I also had a lot leftover so I expect to be eating Malfouf for the next few days, which I’m definitely looking forward to.
As usual, I’ll attach a link to the recipe I used so that you can try it out if you are interested in making the Malfouf yourself. If you do end up making this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out or how you liked it. Thanks for reading everyone!
Sources:
https://zaatarandzaytoun.com/malfouf/
I always love reading your blogs because I myself cannot cook and you always find these amazing recipes that I could not in my wildest dreams imagine being able to make! I definitely am jealous of your skills in the kitchen! It is really interesting that you chose this recipe because I am familiar with Malfouf due to my studies in the Middle East. I remember reading about it in some textbook that this is a comfort dish in many part of the Middle Eastern region! I thought that was really interesting! I am not sure I will be able to make this recipe myself, but if I ever am at a Middle Eastern restaurant I will keep my eye for some Malfouf on the menu! Thank you for sharing this Anna and I hope you enjoy your leftovers! 🙂
Anna this sounds so good! I have to stop reading your blogs when hungry lol. I am so glad you tried this dish, even though it was harder to make it sounds like it paid off in the end! I feel like choosing a Middle Eastern dish was a great idea since it is Ramadan. Super cool that you ventured outside of your comfort and tried something new. Your blogs always make you sound like a professional chef and I love it! Overall great blog post, looking forward to the next one!
Anna I am so jealous of your cooking skills. Wow, I need to get more creative and actually take the time to try new recipes and ideas. I absolutely love Malfouf , one of my favorite foods. I am actually really considering if I should make this. I am not one to adventure when making food recipes, how I am now in the mood. Thank You for sharing this, I might see if I can try this for the weekend.