From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
Also borghol, burghul. A Middle Eastern staple, the parched, steamed and dried kernels of wheat that are eaten hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's used to make tabbouleh. Traces of bulgur have been found in Egyptian tombs, Etruscan amphorae and Hun saddlebags. The Romans even had a word for bulgur, cerealis, named after Ceres, the goddess of the harvest. The Ancient Israelites called it dagan, meaning "bursting kernels of grains."
