Falafel
Falafel balls
Alternative namesFelafel
TypeFritter
CourseMeze
Place of originEgypt
Region or stateMiddle East
Serving temperatureHot
Main ingredientsBroad beans or chickpeas

Falafel (/fəˈlɑːfəl/; Arabic: فلافل, [fæˈlæːfɪl] ⓘ) is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter of Egyptian origin, featuring in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly Levantine cuisines, and is made from broad beans, ground chickpeas, or both.

Falafel is often served in a pita, samoon, laffa, or wrapped in a flatbread known as taboon; "falafel" also frequently refers to a wrapped sandwich that is prepared in this way. The falafel balls may be 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 meze tray (assortment of appetizers).

Falafel is eaten throughout the Middle East and is a common street food. Falafel is usually made with fava beans in Egyptian cuisine, with chickpeas in Palestinian cuisine,[1] or either just chickpeas or a combination of both in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.[1][2][3] It is popular with vegetarians worldwide.[4] The Palestinian chickpea version of the falafel has been adopted into Israeli cuisine, where it features prominently and has been called a national dish of Israel, which Palestinians and other Arabs have criticized and characterized as cultural appropriation.[1][5]

Etymology

The word falāfil (Arabic: فلافل) is Arabic and is the plural of filfil (فلفل) 'pepper',[6] borrowed from Persian felfel (فلفل),[7] cognate with the Sanskrit word pippalī (पिप्पली) 'long pepper'; or an earlier *filfal, from Aramaic pilpāl 'small round thing, peppercorn', derived from palpēl 'to be round, roll'.[8]

The name falāfil is used world-wide. In English (where it has been written falafel, felafel, filafel and filafil), it is first attested in 1936.[9]

Falafel is known as taʿmiya (Egyptian Arabic: طعمية ṭaʿmiyya, IPA: [tˤɑʕˈmejjɑ]) in Egypt and Sudan. The word is derived from a diminutive form of the Arabic word ṭaʿām (طعام, "food"); the particular form indicates "a unit" of the given root in this case Ṭ-ʕ-M (ط ع م, having to do with taste and food), thus meaning "a little piece of food" or "small tasty thing".[10][11][12]

The word falafel can refer to the fritters themselves or to sandwiches filled with them.

History and spread

A pita filled with vegetables and fritters on a plate
Falafel sandwich in pita
Despite the frying process, the inside of a falafel remains soft.
A man in a restaurant kitchen making fritters
Falafel being fried in a scoop, Ramallah

The origin of falafel is uncertain.[13] The dish most likely originated in Egypt.[14][15][16][17][18] It has been speculated that its history may go back to Pharaonic Egypt.[19] However, the earliest written references to falafel from Egyptian sources date to the 19th century,[20][21][22] and oil was probably too expensive to use for deep frying in ancient Egypt.[22][23]

As Alexandria is a port city, it was possible to export the dish and its name to other areas in the Middle East.[24] The dish later migrated northwards to the Levant, where chickpeas replaced the fava beans, and from there spread to other parts of the Middle East.[1][25][26]

Middle East

Falafel is a common form of street food or fast food in Egypt, across the Levant, and in the wider Middle East.[2][27] The croquettes are regularly eaten as part of meze. During Ramadan, falafel balls are sometimes eaten as part of the iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast after sunset.[11] Falafel became so popular that McDonald's for a time served a "McFalafel" in its breakfast menu in Egypt.[28] Falafel is still popular in the Coptic diet, and as such large volumes are cooked during religious holidays.[2] Falafel is consumed as part of Lent diet by Arab Christians.[29][30]

Europe

Waves of migration – principally of Arabs and Turks – took falafel through Europe. In Germany in particular, where a large Turkish population put down roots, it enjoyed huge popularity. At first it was a dish consumed principally by migrants; but by the early 1970s, the appearance of Turkish food stalls and restaurants made it available to a growing number of Germans, which led to yet another transformation of its recipe.[31]

North America

In North America, prior to the 1970s, falafel was found only in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Jewish neighborhoods and restaurants.[4][32][33][34] Today, the dish is a common and popular street food in many cities throughout North America.[35][36][37]

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy1,393 kJ (333 kcal)
31.84 g
17.80 g
13.31 g
VitaminsQuantity
%DV†
Vitamin A13 IU
Thiamine (B1)
13%
0.146 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
14%
0.166 mg
Niacin (B3)
7%
1.044 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)
6%
0.292 mg
Vitamin B6
10%
0.125 mg
Folate (B9)
20%
78 μg
Vitamin B12
0%
0.00 μg
MineralsQuantity
%DV†
Calcium
5%
54 mg
Iron
26%
3.42 mg
Magnesium
23%
82 mg
Manganese
33%
0.691 mg
Phosphorus
27%
192 mg
Potassium
12%
585 mg
Sodium
20%
294 mg
Zinc
16%
1.50 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Water34.62 g
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA FoodData Central

Vegetarianism

Falafel became popular among vegetarians and vegans as an alternative to meat-based street foods.[4][38] While traditionally thought of as being used to make veggie burgers,[39] its use has expanded as more have adopted it as a source of protein.[40] Falafel is used as a meat substitute in some vegetarian recipes for meatloaf, sloppy joes and spaghetti and meatballs.[41][42]

Preparation and variations

Falafel is made from fava beans or chickpeas, or a combination of both.[1] Falafel is usually made with fava beans in Egyptian cuisine, where it most likely originated, with chickpeas in Palestinian cuisine,[1] or just chickpeas or a combination of both in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria and the wider Middle East.[2][1][3][43] This version is the most popular in the West.[2]

When chickpeas are used, they are not cooked prior to use (cooking the chickpeas will cause the falafel to fall apart, requiring adding some flour to use as a binder). Instead they are soaked (sometimes with baking soda) overnight, then ground together with various ingredients such as parsley, scallions, and garlic.[2] Spices such as cumin and coriander are often added to the beans for added flavor.[44] The dried fava beans are soaked in water and then stone ground with leek, parsley, green coriander, cumin and dry coriander.[45][46] The mixture is shaped into balls or patties. This can be done by hand or with a tool called an aleb falafel (falafel mould).[10] The mixture is usually deep-fried, or it can be oven-baked.

Falafel is typically ball-shaped, but is sometimes made in other shapes. The inside of falafel may be green (from green herbs such as parsley or green onion), or tan. Sometimes sesame seeds are added on top of the falafel before frying it.

The pita falafel sandwich was popularized after Israel's independence and in the 1950s by Jewish Yemeni immigrants. A 19 October 1939 The Palestine Post article is the first mention of the concept of falafels served in a pita bread as a street food.[47] When served as a sandwich, falafel is often wrapped with flatbread or stuffed in a hollow pita bread,[48] or it can be served with flat or unleavened bread.[49] Tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and other garnishes can be added.[50][51] Falafel is commonly accompanied by tahini sauce.[2]

Nutrition

When made with chickpeas, falafel is high in protein, complex carbohydrates, and fiber.[52] Key nutrients are calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, vitamin C, thiamine, pantothenic acid, vitamin B, and folate. Phytochemicals include beta-carotene.[53] Falafel is high in soluble fiber, which has been shown to be effective in lowering blood cholesterol.[54][55]

Chickpeas are low in fat and contain initially no cholesterol, but a considerable amount of fat is absorbed during the frying process. Falafel can instead be baked to avoid the high fat content associated with frying.[4][50]

Politico-cultural implications

Arguments over the relative importance of the dish in various cuisines is an example of gastronationalism.[56] In particular, discussion centers around the adoption of the dish into Israeli cuisine as an example of cultural appropriation.[56]

While, according to author Claudia Roden, falafel was “never specifically a Jewish dish” in Syria and Egypt, it was consumed by Syrian and Egyptian Jews,[13][25] and was adopted in the diet of early Jewish immigrants to the Jewish communities of Ottoman Syria.[5] As it is plant-based, Jewish dietary laws classify it as pareve and thus allow it to be eaten with both meat and dairy meals.[32] Falafel features prominently in Israeli cuisine and has been called a national dish.[5]

Some Palestinians and other Arabs have objected to current identification of falafel with Israeli cuisine as cultural appropriation. Palestinian author Reem Kassis wrote that the term, "Israeli food" (including falafel) has become a proxy for political conflict.[57][5] Joseph Massad, a Jordanian-American professor at Columbia University, has characterized falafel and other Arab dishes description in American and European restaurants as Israeli to be part of a broader trend of "colonial conquest".[58]

Dafna Hirsch of the Open University of Israel, wrote: "Despite Khan Bar-Adon's lament, several ingredients from the Palestinian repertoire did penetrate many Jewish kitchens by the early 1940s, mostly vegetables like olives, tomatoes, eggplants, and squashes. Prepared dishes, however, were rarely adopted, except for falafel, which became a popular street food in Tel Aviv by the late 1930s. Excluding consumption by immigrants from Arab countries, both falafel and, later, hummus seem to have been adopted mainly by the first generation of Jews born in the country."[59] Some authors have disagreed on the politics of food and its relative merit as a topic in the conflict.[60]

The Association of Lebanese Industrialists in 2008 brought a lawsuit against Israel seeking damages for lost revenues, claiming copyright infringement regarding the branding of Israeli falafel, hummus, tabbouleh, and other foods.[25][26][61]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Raviv 2003, p. 20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Roden 2008, p. 62.
  3. 1 2 Malouf & Malouf 2008, p. 90.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Grogan, Bryanna Clark (July 2003). "Falafel without fat". Vegetarian Times. pp. 20, 22. ISSN 0164-8497. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Pilcher 2006, p. 115.
  6. ↑ "falafel". American Heritage Dictionary (5th ed.). 2011.
  7. ↑ "دیکشنری آنلاین - Dehkhoda dictionary - معنی پلپل". abadis.ir. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Definition of falafel | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  9. ↑ The Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed., March 2022) has a 1936 citation.
  10. 1 2 Davidson, Alan; Jaine, Tom (2006). The Oxford Companion to Food (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-19-280681-9. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  11. 1 2 Habeeb, Salloum (1 April 2007). "Falafel: healthy Middle Eastern hamburgers capture the West". Vegetarian Journal. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  12. ↑ Ham, Anthony (2010). Africa. Footscray, Victoria: Lonely Planet. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-74104-988-6. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  13. 1 2 Petrini, Carlo; Watson, Benjamin (2001). Slow food : collected thoughts on taste, tradition, and the honest pleasures of food. Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-931498-01-2. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  14. ↑ Helman, Anat (2015). Jews and Their Foodways. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-049359-2. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023. The claim that Indian cooking may have influenced the invention of falafel is reasonable. There are many fried foods in India that predate falafel and that are similar in shape and consistency. British soldiers familiar with vada, ambode, dal ke pakode and other fried foods might easily have experimented and encouraged resourceful Egyptian chefs to come up with a local equivalent.
  15. ↑ Galili, Shooky (4 July 2007). "Falafel fact sheet". Ynet News. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  16. ↑ Lee, Alexander (1 January 2019). "Historian's Cookbook - Falafel". History Today. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "A short wrap-up of the history of falafel". ZME Science. 21 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  18. ↑ "The falafel battle: which country cooks it best?". the Guardian. 4 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  19. ↑ Wilson, Hilary (1988). Egyptian food and drink. Shire. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-85263-972-6.
  20. ↑ Raviv 2003.
  21. ↑ Denker, Joel (2003). The World on a Plate: A Tour Through the History of America's Ethnic Cuisine. U of Nebraska Press. p. 41. ISBN 0-8133-4003-9.
  22. 1 2 Solomonov, Michael (2018). Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious. Houghton Mifflim. ISBN 9780544970373.
  23. ↑ Liz Steinberg. "Food Wars: Did Jews Invent Falafel After All?". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  24. ↑ Green, Aliza (2004). Beans. Running Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-7624-1931-9.
  25. 1 2 3 Kantor, Jodi (10 July 2002). "A History of the Mideast in the Humble Chickpea". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  26. 1 2 MacLeod, Hugh (12 October 2008). "Lebanon turns up the heat as falafels fly in food fight". The Age. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  27. ↑ Kelley, Leigh (28 January 2010). "Dining with a Middle Eastern flair". Times-News. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  28. ↑ Allison, Jerry (6 January 2009). "Fast food – Middle Eastern style". The News Journal. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  29. ↑ M. Conroy, Thomas (2014). Food and Everyday Life. Lexington Books. p. 73. ISBN 9780739173114.
  30. ↑ Davidson, Alan (2014). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press. p. 295. ISBN 9780191040726. Falafel are made for religious festivals, especially among Christian communities during Lent when meat is forbidden.
  31. ↑ "Falafel | History Today". www.historytoday.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  32. 1 2 Thorne, Matt; Thorne, John (2007). Mouth Wide Open: A Cook and His Appetite. Macmillan. pp. 181–187. ISBN 978-0-86547-628-8. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  33. ↑ Perry, Charles (May 2007). "Middle Eastern Influences on American Food". In Smith, Andrew F. (ed.). The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-19-530796-2.
  34. ↑ Curtis IV, Edward (2010). Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History, Volume 1. Infobase Publishing. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-8160-7575-1. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  35. ↑ Lenhard, Elizabeth (January 2006). "Cuisine of the Month". Atlanta Magazine: 194. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  36. ↑ Schmidt, Arno; Fieldhouse, Paul (2007). The World Religions Cookbook. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-313-33504-4. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  37. ↑ Westmoreland, Susan, ed. (2004). The Good Housekeeping Cookbook. Hearst Books. ISBN 978-1-58816-398-1. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  38. ↑ Wolfe, Frankie Avalon (2007). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Being Vegetarian. Penguin Group. pp. 175, 186. ISBN 978-1-59257-682-1. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  39. ↑ Murphy, Jane (2010). The Great Big Burger Book: 100 New and Classic Recipes for Mouth Watering Burgers Every Day Every Way. ReadHowYouWant.com. p. 304. ISBN 978-1-4587-6463-8. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  40. ↑ Berkoff R.D., Nancy (1999). Vegan in volume: vegan quantity recipes for every occasion. Vegetarian Resource. ISBN 978-0-931411-21-2. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  41. ↑ Leonard, Joanne (October 1996). "New Ways with Falafel: The Middle Eastern favorite has evolved from a high fat sandwich stuffer to a low fat meal magician". Vegetarian Times. pp. 36, 38. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  42. ↑ Whitney, Winona (June 1991). "Minute Meals". Vegetarian Times. p. 30. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  43. ↑ Ayto, John (1990). The glutton's glossary: a dictionary of food and drink terms. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-02647-4. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  44. ↑ Bittman, Mark (4 April 2007). "For the Best Falafel, Do It All Yourself". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  45. ↑ Kathrynne Holden. "Fava Beans, Levodopa, and Parkinson's Disease". Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  46. ↑ Russ Parsons. "The Long History of the Mysterious Fava Bean". Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  47. ↑ Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Gil Marks, HMH, 2010
  48. ↑ Marks, Gil (2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish food. John Wiley & Sons. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-470-39130-3. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  49. ↑ Basan, Ghillie (2007). Middle Eastern Kitchen. Hippocrene Books. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7818-1190-3.
  50. 1 2 Winget & Chalbi 2003, p. 33.
  51. ↑ Claudia Roden, The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York, New York, Knopf, 1997, 688 p. (ISBN 0-394-53258-9), p. 273.
  52. ↑ Webb, Robyn (2004). Eat to Beat High Blood Pressure. Reader's Digest. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-7621-0508-3. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  53. ↑ Balch, Phyllis A. (2003). Prescription for Dietary Wellness (2nd ed.). Avery. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-58333-147-7. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  54. ↑ Katz, David; Gonzalez, Maura (2004). Way to Eat: A Six-Step Path to Lifelong Weight Control. Sourcebooks, Inc. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-4022-0264-3. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  55. ↑ Piscatella, Joseph; Franklin, Barry (2003). Take a load off your heart: 109 things you can actually do to prevent, halt, or reverse heart disease. Workman Publishing. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-7611-2676-8. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  56. 1 2 Vered, Ronit (13 June 2018). "Israelis or Arabs – Who Owns Falafel - and Does It Matter?". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  57. ↑ Reem Kassis (18 February 2020). "Here's why Palestinians object to the term 'Israeli food': It erases us from history". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  58. ↑ Joseph Massad (17 November 2021). "Israel-Palestine: How food became a target of colonial conquest". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  59. ↑ Hirsch, Dafna (November 2011). ""Hummus is best when it is fresh and made by Arabs": The gourmetization of hummus in Israel and the return of the repressed Arab". American Ethnologist. 38 (4): 619–621. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1425.2011.01326.x.
  60. ↑ Ariel, Ari (2012). "The Hummus Wars". Gastronomica. 12 (1): 34–42. doi:10.1525/gfc.2012.12.1.34. ISSN 1529-3262. JSTOR 10.1525/gfc.2012.12.1.34.
  61. ↑ Nahmias, Roee (10 June 2008). "Lebanon: Israel stole our falafel". Ynet News. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2010.

Sources

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