You're in a foreign country and a word jumps out at you from the storefront of a restaurant. "tabbouleh." Your heart swells a little.

To many of us, tabbouleh means home. Tabbouleh means watching mama kneading pools of parsley, and it's an ultimate labor of love. Tabbouleh is also an opportunity for us to lecture non-Arabs about something that is "not-just-a-salad but an art form;" and it doesn't matter that we just noticed their eyes glazing over a little.

Here are seven reasons why we love tabbouleh.

1. There's no such thing as a tabbouleh that is too sour

More lemon!

2. It goes with everything

3. It's an essential part of mashewe

Mashewe is meaningless and tasteless without tabbouleh

4. It's healthy

5. You never have to feel guilty about eating it

6. You consider people who don't like tabbouleh as sketchy