So tonight I was craving falafel. Weird. It’s been ages since I have had any. I decided to try a new adventure for our family.
When I was studying in Israel at the BYU Jerusalem Center we had many opportunities to try new food. Our daily meals went something like this. In the morning I would enjoy yogurt and granola. For lunch, especially if we were on a field trip, we would have a pita bread turkey sandwich. At nearly every meal we had Israeli salad, think of this just like fresh chunky salsa without the heat.
Throughout my life I have been notoriously picky when it came to food. Without peanut butter, mac ‘n cheese and cereal it would have been difficult to keep me alive the first decade of my life. I came around a little bit as I got older, but really, not until I got married was I willing to step out of my very confined comfort zone when it came to food.
Back to Israel. My mom went on study abroad in Israel in the early 70s when she was in her early years.
At the time she went there was no beautiful center. They lived and studied in an old, run down Arab hotel in Jerusalem, with a local Arab chef. If he fried fish the night before, he would use the grease in the morning to cook french toast. Mmmm, can you imagine fishy french toast?….
She loved Mediterranean food and shared it with my brother and I when we were young. I of course turned my nose at anything new, except the baklava, which is a delicious honey-filo dough- nut dessert. I had no problem consuming sugar, in any variety, go figure. As a kid, I was brave enough to eat the plain pita bread that came with dinner as well. No, I did not venture into the world of falafel in my elementary days.
When I traveled to the Holy Land, the food was distantly familiar, like my mom’s friend that I had heard about, but never actually met.
It wasn’t until the end of my trip that I decided to jump into the culinary experience of the local food. Just like in the big cities in the States, you will find hot dog stands and taco trucks, in Jerusalem you will see Shwarma stands and felafel vendors on the streets. Shwarma is meat; chicken, lamb or beef that is cooked on a spit, and shaved off, similar to what you would find on a Greek gyro. The street food was yummy. The flavors tasted as rich, and as expressive as the ancient buildings of the old city with all of its corresponding history and culture. The flavors were new to me, and quite frankly helped me open up to me the experience of trying new food.
I remember walking towards the old city one day. Quite literally the ancient walls of Solomon’s kingdom land squarely in the modern day Jerusalem. On the sidewalks, next to modern day businesses sat an entire row of leathered and worn women, selling their goods, grown from the earth. They wore sandals, and sat criss-cross style on the sidewalk, with large black trash sacks holding their fruit, and vegetables to sell. Other vendors sold hot, freshly made bread sticks. Along with it came a small newpaper twisted packet of herbs and spices, smaller than the palm of my hand. I have no idea what the mixture contained, but it was delicious, and most definitely news worthy.
And then there was the felafel.
They say New York Cheesecake is better in New York. I have tried it there, it’s true, it is better. Hands down gelato is better in Italy. In fact, I spent my last spare change in Florence as a young college student, and didn’t have enough emission money to see the famous naked angel babies at a local museum, but man that hazelnut gelato was delicious! Israeli felafel is super tasty. For one, the pita bread there isn’t the cardboard yucky mimickery that we have here. It is soft and fluffy. Think of a gigantic, hot and fresh English muffin, that is more the consistency of pita bread in Israel. Second, the felafel is heaven in a dish. Lastly, there is a really simple and delicious salad that accompanies almost every meal, it has tomato, cucumbers, sweet peppers, onion, oil and lemon juice. It is really good along side, or inside your falafel.
I want to share my heavenly dinner experience. If you want to try something new. My adventurous eater loved it, and helped cook it. My one year old hated it, didn’t keep a bit in his mouth for a minute. I was in happy reminiscence of my college days, and my husband felt totally satisfied. And I am really excited because I have found a store bought pita bread that tastes authentic and delicious! The Stone Fire brand I know is sold at Harmon’s. I also picked up some freshly made hummus at Harmon’s. Enjoy!!
Felafel
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups Cooked Dried Chickpeas, or 1 15.5 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed (I used about 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder)
- 1 small yellow onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley (I used 3 Tbl dry parsley)
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 teaspoon baking soda - 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tbl. flour
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
- Olive oil for frying {Olive or canola}
(Many recipes also call for 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp cumin, and cayenne instead of chili powder. Another called for 2 Tbl. freshly chopped mint. You can play with the spices. I used what we had on hand.)
Directions:
- Place chickpeas in food processor with garlic, onion, herbs, spices, baking soda, salt, and lemon juice. Pulse to a thick, chunky paste, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl.
- Add egg and sesame seeds to bowl and stir to combine. Cover and chill batter in fridge 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Drop rounded tablespoons of batter into skillet and gently press batter into 2-inch-round patties. Cook, turning once, until deep golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate to drain.
Israeli Salad
1 cup each: chopped tomato, green/red sweet pepper, cucumber
1/2 cup onion
Juice from a whole lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper
Chop, mix and serve. It is delicious with pita bread and hummus, or along with your felafel.
