February 25, 2014

What is falafel?

Falafel was invented by Egyptian Bedouins, made from chickpeas, fava beans or a combination of the two and usually deep fried. It first appeared on culinary scene as street food –exotic, portable and loaded with high flavor food.

Falafel is traditional eaten whole, dipped in either tahini or hummus or wrapped in pita.

It was first invented in Alexandria, Egypt, some say by the Coptic people as a replacement for meat during Lent.

Since Alexandria is a port, sailors from all over took the delicious little patties home, and eventually falafel became a popular fast food all over the Middle East and now around the world.

The first known record of the word in an American source was in December 16, 1949 issue of The Jewish Criterion. It said “Falafel, most nearly described as an everything but the kitchen sink plus red pepper sandwich”.

In the early 1950s, the English spelling crystallized as falafel.

Falafel mixed include such diverse ingredients as wheat germ and split peas in addition to the standard garbanzo beans, Everything is ground and seasoned with dried onion, garlic, herbs and spices , among which cumin and turmeric usually predominate.
What is falafel?

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