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Falafel

Course	Street food
Place of origin	Egypt
Region or state	Middle East
Serving temperature	Hot, served alone or in a pita
Main ingredients	Fava beans or chickpeas
Variations	many
Other information	Spread north from Egypt to the Levant. Now popular worldwide.
Cookbook: Falafel   Media: Falafel

Falafel (Template:Pron-en; Template:Lang-ar falāfil Egyptian and Sudanese Arabic, طعمية Ta'miyya) is a fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Originally from Egypt, falafel is a popular form of street food or fast food in the Middle East.

Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flat bread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables and hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a mezze. During Ramadan, they are sometimes eaten as part of an iftar, the meal which breaks the daily fast after sunset.

Etymology

The Arabic word "falafel" (falāfil) may be the plural of فلفل ( Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) 'pepper'. In Arab countries, the word is also used to describe something with a fluffy or crunchy texture, such as رز مفلفل ( Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), a kind of cooked rice, and شعر مفلفل ( Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), curly hair. It is also transliterated felafel and filafil.

Falafel can refer to different presentations. It can be a croquette of the mashed chickpeas and spices, or it can be the sandwiches filled wit those fritters and topped with garnishes.

History

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to itadding to it or making an edit request. (September 2009)

It is believed that falafel originates from an Egyptian fava bean fritter that was eaten by Copts as a replacement for meat during Lent. The dish later migrated northwards, where chickpeas replaced the fava.

Falafel is a common form of street food or fast food in the Middle East. It has increased in popularity worldwide. Falafel has also become more established with vegetarians, and prepackaged mixes are available in health-food and grocery stores.

Ingredients

Falafel is made from fava beans or chickpeas or a combination of the two. The Egyptian variation uses fava beans while chickpeas are used in other Middle Eastern countries. Palestinians and Yemenite Jews in Jerusalem historically prepared falafel from chickpeas. The beans are not cooked prior to use. Instead they are soaked with bicarbonate of soda, then ground together with onion, parsley and spices such as cumin and coriander. The mixture is shaped into balls or patties, then deep fried. Sesame seeds are sometimes added to the mixture before frying.

Variations

In Arab countries a round khubz, 'eish' in Egypt, is halved and used to create a cigar-shaped wrap. In Arab countries, hummus is rarely added to falafel. Tahini thinned with water and lemon is more common. In Lebanon, a popular salad is parsley mixed with chopped mint leaves. Pickled cucumber, turnip colored pink with beetroot, and raw onion are common falafel accompaniments. In Israel, French fries may be added to the sandwich.

A new variation is "stuffed" falafel with a filling of ground meat, minced onions or hard-boiled egg. The salads or the pita itself may be seasoned with salt or sumac.

Academic politicizing of food

The consumption of falafel in Israel is sometimes perceived by Arabs as "food theft." It has been called a "deliberate attempt to relinquish Diaspora habits in favor of a new existence in Palestine." According to one such theory, immigrants to Israel "adopted certain Arab models that they perceived as related to Jewish existence in the mythical, Biblical past," to the point that it has become a "signifier of Israeli pride." A professor at Queens College in New York claims that Israelis appropriated falafel in the same way as Jaffa oranges and Za'atar.

Image gallery

• Felafels frying in Egypt.
• Falafel restaurant in Ljubljana, Slovenia Falafel restaurant in Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Preparing falafel in Ramallah, West Bank
• Falafel chips in Tel Aviv, Israel
• Iraqi-run falafel stand in Utrecht, Netherlands
• Street felafel vendor in Hurghada, Egypt.

See also

• Middle Eastern cuisine
• Arab cuisine
• Egyptian cuisine
• Iraqi cuisine
• Israeli cuisine
• Lebanese cuisine
• Palestinian cuisine
• Sudanese cuisine
• Syrian cuisine

References

1. ^ Jodi Kantor (July 10, 2002). "A History of the Mideast in the Humble Chickpea". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. “Falafel.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Accessed on April 6, 2006.
3. Martinson, Suzanne (October 10, 2002). "Many countries claim the Middle Eastern falafel, but anyone can enjoy it". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
4. ^ Yael Raviv, "Falafel: A National Icon" Gastronomica Summer 2003 doi:10.1525/gfc.2003.3.3.20
5. Denker, Joel (2003). The World on a Plate: A Tour Through the History of America's Ethnic Cuisine. U of Nebraska Press. p. 41.
6. Kelley, Leigh (January 28, 2010). "Dining with a Middle Eastern flair". Times-News. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
7. Hendler, Sefi (August 16, 2007). "Falafel takes over the world". Ynetnews. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
8. Wolfe, Frankie Avalon (2007). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Being Vegetarian. Penguin Group. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-592-57682-1.
9. Campion, Charles (May 9, 2002). "Falling for fine falafel". London Evening Standard. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
10. About Israel's signature food--plus, a recipe.
11. Ayto, John (1990). The glutton's glossary: a dictionary of food and drink terms. Routledge. ISBN 0415026474, 9780415026475. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); More than one of |author= and |last1= specified (help)
12. The History of Falafel
13. Falafel recipes.
14. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/10/dining/a-history-of-the-mideast-in-the-humble-chickpea.html?pagewanted=2

• Middle Eastern cuisine
• Arabic loanwords
• Legume dishes
• National dishes
• Vegan cuisine