Around noon on Saturday, my order of tasty falafel -- ground chickpeas mixed with parsley -- was deep fried to order.
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By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
I dashed out to Paterson on Saturday for a refresher course on Middle Eastern flavors after a bitter winter that kept me close to home.
My first stop was Fattal's -- which sells freshly baked pocket bread and a wide array of food and spices, even gold necklaces and bracelets -- at 975-77 Main St.
Fattal's has its own parking lot and, on the weekends, a guard will help you find a parking space and, with gestures and waving arms, will help you back out when it is time to leave.
I stocked up on Al Shark-brand Moroccan Sardines in Tomato Sauce, the variety that has the least sodium. I bought two dozen cans at 99 cents each (125 grams).
I use them in pasta dishes or add them to canned-seafood salads.
I also bought a half-pound of crushed Aleppo red pepper ($6.99 a pound), perfect for garnishing egg and fish dishes.
A gallon of refrigerated Merve Ayran Yogurt Drink -- with live active cultures -- was $10.99, compared to $8.69 two years ago.
Fattal's has one of the largest parking lots in South Paterson. |
Crushed red pepper is perfect for fish or egg dishes. I store it in the freezer of refrigerator.
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I used Aleppo pepper this morning on an egg-white omelet stuffed with smoked wild salmon, fresh spinach sauteed in a separate pan, marinara sauce and reduced fat cheese. |
King's Whole Wheat Pita is baked in Paterson without preservatives, and sold at Fattal's alongside its own bread.
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This bread is impossible to resist
Even though I've been on a no-bread diet for years, I couldn't resists buying a bag of 9-inch pocket bread called King's Pita ($1.39 for six loaves).
This is a thin whole-wheat bread in the Lebanese style, perfect for wrapping or stuffing.
At home, I ate spoonfuls of leftover canned-salmon salad with sweet peppers and celery in the soft, chewy bread. Fantastic.
I can just imagine scooping up hummus with it.
The ingredients are bran, whole wheat flour, water, salt and yeast.
Bag of falafel
I asked the guard in Fattal's lot if I could leave my car there and walked over to Salah Edin Middle Eastern Restaurant on the next block for a $1 bag of seven falafel balls.
They were fried beautifully, leaving only a little oil on the paper bag. I ate two of the piping hot falafel immediately, and took the rest home for family members.
A small cup of tahini would be perfect with the delicious falafel, but then they probably wouldn't cost only $1.
My Jewish mother, who was born in Aleppo, Syria, made falafel at home not with chickpeas, but with fava beans, the way it's done in Egypt, where they are called ta'amia.
I prefer fava-bean falafel, but the only place I know that serves it is an expensive restaurant in Tenafly with an Egyptian chef/owner.
They were fried beautifully, leaving only a little oil on the paper bag. I ate two of the piping hot falafel immediately, and took the rest home for family members.
A small cup of tahini would be perfect with the delicious falafel, but then they probably wouldn't cost only $1.
My Jewish mother, who was born in Aleppo, Syria, made falafel at home not with chickpeas, but with fava beans, the way it's done in Egypt, where they are called ta'amia.
I prefer fava-bean falafel, but the only place I know that serves it is an expensive restaurant in Tenafly with an Egyptian chef/owner.
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