A Near Perfect Food

Not many people may feel the way I do about falafel. Perhaps it's because it's vegetarian and therefore feels healthy. Perhaps because it's Middle Eastern, therefore lending an exotic air to it. Perhaps because it's deeply seeded in my childhood, with weekly meals of falafel with all the works prepared by my mom and dad together in the kitchen; the family then gets to sit around and assemble our falafels. It was one of the more functional moments of growing up. Just kidding. Really.

For those who don't know what a falafel is (do you live under a rock?), according to Wikipedia:

Falafel (Arabic: فلافل‎ falaafil (help·info), Hebrew: פָלָאפֶל‎; also known in Egypt and Sudan as ta'meya, Arabic طعمية), is a fried ball or patty made from spiced fava beans and/or chickpeas. It is a popular form of fast food in the Middle East, where it is also served as a mezze (snack or tapas).

The best way to eat it is as we did growing up; I suspect this way of eating it is Saudi in nature as we lived there for several years.

Split pita pocket..stuff with falafel, lettuce, pickles, fried eggplant, fries, top with tahina and hot sauce...unfortunately if you don't do this for yourself at home (or head to the restaurant I mention below) you'll only come across the dry or pasty falafels served in most Arab places here.

This weekend I found my dream falafel restaurant. It's an international chain...slowly expanding in the U.S. It's called Maoz Falafel and you can visit there website here at http://www.maozusa.com/

They served it just the way I love...with the fried eggplant..and Belgian fries (yummmmm) on the side..with amazing sauces. The place is small but known for the salad bar, which is a selection of pickles and salads to top your falafel with. It's really delicious. How I found it was quite fortuitous...we headed into the city for the farmer's market in Union Square and on the way I was mentioning to Moustafa that I've been wanting to try this place (since I heard about the fried eggplant). We parked our car, came around the corner and Subhanallah there it was.

True love indeed...

If you love falafel, or don't love it yet, you MUST MUST MUST visit Maoz.


Take me with you. Please. Pretty please.

Sameera