Episode notes
Falafel is sold cheaply on street corners around the world, yet it has a complicated history. This episode starts with the food chemistry. Chickpeas or fava beans are soaked but never cooked before grinding, so their raw starches set in the hot oil and hold each fritter together. The name has two proposed roots: one runs from Sanskrit through Persian to the Arabic for pepper, the other comes from an Aramaic word for a small round thing. In Egypt and Sudan it is called ta'amiya.
We look at the claim that falafel is Pharaonic, which is unlikely given how costly oil was in ancient Egypt, and the theory that Egyptian cooks adapted Indian vada for British soldiers. From Alexandria it spread to Beirut by 1933 and across the region. It helped Israel get through the 1949 austerity period, became a Lent and Ramadan staple, and turned into a Western meat substitute in the 1990s. We end with a neutral look at gastronationalism and the competing claims to the dish.
- Why soaked but uncooked chickpeas are essential for falafel that holds together
- The Indian vada theory of falafel's 19th-century origin
- Regional versions with fava beans, beef, or a sumac-and-onion filling
- The Yemeni refugees who popularized the falafel pita sandwich
- Falafel's nutrition, including about 20 percent of daily folate per 100 grams