Falafel is often served in a flatbread such as pita, samoon, laffa, or 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).
The word falāfil (Arabic: فلافل) is Arabic and is the plural of filfil (فلفل) 'pepper',[3] borrowed from Persianfelfel (فلفل),[4] 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'.[5]
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.[6]
Falafel is known as taʿmiya (Egyptian Arabic: طعميةṭaʿmiyya, 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".[7][8][9]
The word falafel can refer to the fritters themselves or to sandwiches filled with them.
History and distribution
Falafel sandwich in pitaDespite the frying process, the inside of a falafel remains soft.Falafel being fried in a scoop, Ramallah
The origin of falafel is uncertain.[10] The dish most likely originated in Egypt.[11][12][13][14][15] It has been speculated that its history may go back to Pharaonic Egypt.[16] However, the earliest written references to falafel from Egyptian sources date to the 19th century,[17][18][19] and oil was probably too expensive to use for deep frying in ancient Egypt.[19][20]
As Alexandria is a port city, it was possible to export the dish and its name to other areas in the Middle East.[21] 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][22][23]
Middle East
Falafel is a common form of street food or fast food in Egypt, across the Levant, and in the wider Middle East.[24][25] 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.[8] Falafel became so popular that McDonald's for a time served a "McFalafel" in its breakfast menu in Egypt.[26]
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][30]
Europe
Waves of migration of Arabs and Turks took falafel through Europe to Germany in particular, where a large Turkish population had put down roots. At first it was a dish consumed principally by migrants. During the early 1970s, the appearance of Turkish food stalls and restaurants made falafel available to the Germans, resulting in a transformation of the recipe.[31]
North America
In North America, prior to the 1970s, falafel was found only in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Jewish neighborhoods and restaurants.[32][33][34][35] Today, the dish is a common and popular street food in many cities throughout North America.[36][37][38]
Vegetarianism
Falafel is popular with vegetarians worldwide.[32]
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.[24] Spices such as cumin and coriander are often added to the beans for added flavor.[45] The dried fava beans are soaked in water and then stone ground with leek, parsley, green coriander, cumin and dry coriander.[46][47] The mixture is shaped into balls or patties. This can be done by hand or with a tool called an aleb falafel (falafel mould).[7] 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.[48] When served as a sandwich, falafel is often wrapped with flatbread or stuffed in a hollow pita bread,[49] or it can be served with flat or unleavened bread.[50] Tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and other garnishes can be added.[51][52] Falafel is commonly accompanied by tahini sauce.[24]
Homemade falafel is 35% water, 32% carbohydrates, 13% protein, and 18% fat (table). In a reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz), homemade falafel supplies 333 calories and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of folate (20% DV) and several dietary minerals, particularly manganese (33% DV) (table). Falafel is high in soluble fiber, which has been shown to be effective in lowering blood cholesterol.[55] Falafel can be baked to avoid the high fat content associated with frying in oil.[32][51]
Arguments over the relative importance of the dish in various cuisines is an example of gastronationalism.[2] In particular, discussion centers around the adoption of the dish into Israeli cuisine as an example of cultural appropriation.[2] The chickpea version of the falafel has been adopted into Israeli cuisine, where it now features prominently and has been called a national dish of Israel – an attribution that Palestinians and other Arabs have criticized.[1][30]
Palestinian author Reem Kassis wrote that the term "Israeli food" (including falafel) has become a proxy for political conflict.[56][30]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".[57]
Journalist Dorothy Kahn Bar-Adon wrote in 1941 that "since the outbreak of war domestic science institutions have been advocating the use of local products" but that there was a "wall of resistance", and that many Eastern Europeans were reluctant to use local foods. Dafna Hirsch of the Open University of Israel, wrote that despite this initial reluctance, "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."[58] Some authors have disagreed on the politics of food and its relative merit as a topic in the conflict.[59]
The Association of Lebanese Industrialists in 2008 threatened a lawsuit against Israel seeking damages for lost revenues, claiming copyright infringement regarding the branding of Israeli falafel, hummus, tabbouleh, and other foods.[22][23][60]
^Helman, Anat (2015). Jews and Their Foodways. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-049359-2. 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.
^Galili, Shooky (4 July 2007). "Falafel fact sheet". Ynet News. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
^M. Conroy, Thomas (2014). Food and Everyday Life. Lexington Books. p. 73. ISBN9780739173114.
^Davidson, Alan (2014). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press. p. 295. ISBN9780191040726. Falafel are made for religious festivals, especially among Christian communities during Lent when meat is forbidden.
^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. ISBN978-0-19-530796-2.
^National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). "Chapter 4: Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". In Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). pp. 120–121. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN978-0-309-48834-1. PMID30844154. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
