Pine Nut Taboula – Taboulat Snawbar

posted on: Aug 18, 2025

By: Habeeb Salloum/Arab America Contributing Writer

Known as snawbar in in the Middle East where pine nuts have been on the daily menu since before Greek and Roman times, according to the 12^th century Egyptian physician Ya’qub ibn Ishaq al-Israili, they are habb al-muluk (the nut of the kings).

The medieval Arabic culinary texts include hundreds of recipes with pine nuts and these dishes have continued since that time forward.  They were added to lamb and chicken stews, mixed with sugar and spices to make pastry stuffings, and even crushed then layered onto sandwiches. 

As the centuries moved forward and salads became part of the Arab dining table, pine nuts came to be an added feature to give a nutty and richer flavour to them.  Taboula is ‘the mother of all salads’ in the eastern Arab world.  This is my version of this very popular and tasty salad.

Serves 6

1 cup lightly toasted pine nuts

1 small bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro), thoroughly washed, stemmed then finely chopped

1 large bunch of parsley, thoroughly washed, stemmed then finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Place pine nuts, coriander, parsley and green onions in a salad bowl then thoroughly combine.  

For the dressing, mix together the remaining ingredients, then pour over the salad bowl contents, mix well then serve.

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