In Paterson, $1 bag of falafel is not as big of a bargain as it once was

The window of a Syrian wedding shop on Main Street and Gould Avenue in Paterson's South Paterson neighborhood, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The parking lot of Fattal's was far from full today, so I'm sure no one noticed me in my car when I ripped open a plastic bag, tore off a piece of whole-wheat pocket bread, wrapped it around a hot falafel ball and ate it.

At home, I ate two more still-warm falafel in the same thin, Lebanese-style bread with garlicky hummus I made the day before from a can I bought at Fattal's on a visit in April.

But when I emptied what was supposed to be two paper bags, each with seven falafel, into a storage container, I came up short.

It turns out Salah Edin, a Middle Eastern restaurant near Fattal's in Paterson, has reduced the $1 bag of falafel to five from seven.

That's still a good deal, and the ground-chickpea falafel are beautifully fried and greaseless.

At Fattal's, I bought two dozen cans of Al Shark-brand Moroccan Sardines in Tomato Sauce (99 cents each), and a package of Fattal's large homemade Spinach Pies (six for $8.99).

At Nouri's, 999 Main St., I bought a package of medium, Lebanese-style whole-wheat pocket bread for $1.25.

Salah Edin is at 995 Main St., and Fattal's is at 975-77 Main St.

At home, we keep cans of Moroccan Sardines handy to add to bottled pasta sauce when we prepare organic whole-wheat fusilli, shells, spaghetti and other shapes. The whole-wheat pastas are available at ShopRite, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's for $1.25 to $1.49 a pound.

Nostalgic for the past

Visits to the bustling Middle Eastern bazaar known as South Paterson once were filled with memories of the family meals of Syrian food my mother prepared every night in Brooklyn.

Now, all I can think about are the horrors of the civil war in Syria, where the brutal Assad regime indiscriminately bombs civilians.

I stopped into Aleppo Restaurant on Main and Thomas streets, to say hello to the chef and owner, Mohamed K. Jello.

The restaurant is named for the northern Syrian city where my parents were born.

While I was waiting for Mohamed to return from shopping for the restaurant, I spoke to an employee who was enjoying a bowl of ful mudammas or fava beans in sauce for breakfast.

He said the media have drastically under-reported the number of people killed during the Syrian civil war.

Libano Verde Hommos Tahina from Lebanon allows you to make your own at home by adding lemon juice, garlic and extra-virgin olive oil. The can for 99 cents, right, once 15 ounces is now only 13 ounces.

To make hummus from a can, I used fresh lime juice, finely chopped fresh garlic and extra-virgin olive oil, all to taste; chopped fresh mint and Aleppo pepper.

In April, five of the seven falafel for $1 at Salah Edin Middle Eastern Restaurant were still warm when I got them home, above. Now, you get five falafel for $1.

Salah Edin in April. Today, I walked past before I realized the restaurant had removed its sign in anticipation of getting a new one on Tuesday.

Kings Whole Wheat Pita is baked in Paterson without preservatives, but I couldn't find the thin, Lebanese-style loaves today at Fattal's or Nouri's, two Syrian bakeries on Main Street that have competed for decades.

Fattal's is a combination Syrian bakery, butcher, grocer and small cafe, with its own parking lot, at 975-77 Main St. in Paterson. The store also sells gold bracelets and necklaces, and other jewelry.

Warming up with hot mint tea in South Paterson

A photo of the 13th century Citadel of Aleppo in the dining room of Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson, above and below.

The restaurant is at 939 Main St. in Paterson.

Editor's note: We've had some depressingly chilly and sunless days in North Jersey this January, and I'll take comfort wherever I can find it -- with a glass of hot mint tea or home-cooked favorites.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

It's an especially quiet January for the owners of Middle Eastern stores, restaurants and bakeries in the South Paterson section of Silk City.

On Tuesday, when I had an errand in Paterson -- known for its Great Falls and its glorious silk-industry past -- I immediately thought of stopping at Aleppo Restaurant and Fattal's Bakery on Main Street.

At the Syrian restaurant, the owner emerged from the kitchen and offered me a glass of hot mint tea, made with fresh mint leaves, or his justifiably famous lentil soup to warm up from the chilly, rainy weather.

I love the pureed soup, which reminds me so much of the one my mother prepared, but I chose the tea, adding a half teaspoon of sugar as we caught up, seated in the empty dining room.

When I got home, I rummaged in the cupboard and found a pouch of Basak-brand Lentil Soup from Turkey, reconstituted it with water and heated it up on the stove until it boiled and thickened.

It didn't approach the versions prepared by my mother or Aleppo Restaurant, but I enjoyed it nevertheless, squeezing fresh lime juice over it and adding a generous pinch of ground cumin. 

Fattal's at 975-77 Main St. in Paterson is expanding its parking lot.

99-cents sardines

I purchased the lentil-soup mix on a previous visit to Fattal's, the Syrian bakery, grocery, butcher shop and cafe less than two blocks away from Aleppo Restaurant.

On Tuesday, I picked up 21 cans of Al-Shark Sardines in Tomato Sauce, which has less sodium than the same Moroccan sardines in oil, for 99 cents a can.

These sardines are wonderful in canned fish salad, heated up and eaten with rice, added to pasta sauce and eaten right out of the can with salad.

I also purchased a 28-ounce jar of Salloum Bros. Marmalade from Figs for $5.99, even though I saw a less expensive brand.

Sugar was listed second on the ingredients label of the cheaper brand; Salloum lists it fourth after figs, sesame and anise. Both are from Lebanon.

A favorite snack is a spoonful of fig marmalade followed by a spoonful of Kirkland Signature Natural Peanut Butter from Costco Wholesale, but I also eat the thick fig spread with cheese, almonds and fruit.

I also picked up Fattal's own 6-inch Meat Pies ($8.99), a comfort food that is terrific heated up in the oven, if you eat meat. They can be frozen, too.

My mother sometimes added pine nuts to her chopped meat after spreading it on the oiled dough.

For a sweet-and-savory breakfast, I added Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale to an egg-white omelet and a leftover baked sweet potato.

Besto pesto

I love having a jar of Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale in my refrigerator to use at any meal -- whether to spread on a sandwich, add to egg and fish dishes or mix with hot pasta, including whole-wheat shells or imported egg-noodle tagliatelle. 

Ingredients include 100% Italian basil from the province of Genoa, extra-virgin olive oil, sheep's milk and cow's milk cheeses, sea salt, pine nuts, garlic and black pepper.

The pesto doesn't have to be heated up before you mix it with hot pasta, and it's best to add it to fish and egg dishes after you take them out of the oven or off of the stove.

A 22-ounce plastic jar of Basil Pesto is $7.99.

Fish eater v. meat eaters

Fresh organic beef from Australia at ShopRite in Rochelle Park.

Organic beef is on sale through Saturday for $5.99 a pound to $17.99 a pound.

Even though I'm the one who brings home the bacon -- and filet mignon, ground beef and lamb chops -- I eat only seafood. 

I can't think of a better or healthier meal than whole fish, jumbo shrimp or pasta with sardines, and all the other permutations of a seafood-based diet.

Fresh wild Pacific cod coated with bread crumbs and chili spices. Side dishes are boiled and mashed sweet potatoes with extra-virgin olive oil, and sauteed Brussels sprouts.

Dried and salted cod sauteed with cabbage, and served with fried breadfruit.

But when it comes to preparing meals at home, we co-exist nicely.

This week, I picked up fresh organic ground beef and London broil for the three meat eaters in the family ($5.99 a pound and $6.99 a pound).

Clayton's Organic Beef from Australia was introduced this week at ShopRite supermarkets.

My wife made three hamburgers from a 1-pound package of 85% lean ground beef, and she said everyone loved them.

I had leftover Pacific cod with bread crumbs and chili spices.

Fresh or dried and salted cod are two of my favorites. 

When boiled to eliminate some of the sodium and then cooked, the fish breaks apart in big, meaty flakes.

Atlantic cod is the fish that fed America for centuries before it was almost wiped out.

The fresh wild cod sold at Costco Wholesale is labeled "Pacific True Cod," and the salted cod or salt fish we've been buying lately is from Canada. 

At Corrado's, I found salted-cod packages underneath the pollock, left.

Prices for baccala are listed, but not for sea salt, a common problem at Corrado's.

We tried Alaskan salted pollock for about a year before my wife said she wanted to return to using salted cod, which is more expensive.

Corrado's in Clifton sells a 1-pound package of Canadian salted cod for $6.99, the lowest price I've found in North Jersey. Fairway Market in Paramus charges $8.99.

Today, at Corrado's, I was able to find only six packages of Atlantic Pearl salted cod, which we freeze (1578 Main Ave., Clifton; 973-340-0628).

Then, I drove a short distance and picked up 2 dozen cans of Moroccan sardines for 99 cents each at Fattal's Bakery in Paterson (975-77 Main St.; 973-742-7125).

Ackee and salt fish with organic brown rice was made in an electric cooker.

On Wednesday night, my wife used an electric cooker to prepare an unsual version of the Jamaican national dish -- ackee and salt fish -- with organic brown rice. 

Salted cod also can be boiled, flaked and used in pasta sauce, much as we do with drained cans of sardines.

Warning: These colors run

Image via Wikipedia

The color-fastness of Fairway Market's plastic bags is nothing to celebrate.

A River Edge woman complains the black color on the plastic bags used by Fairway Market in Paramus runs, if the bag touches any moisture, such as a wet counter top or a snow bank.

She said she called the Paramus store, as well as calling and e-mailing executives in New York, but no one responded. Some of the black color stained her counter and she had to use bleach to remove it.

To avoid the plastic bags, bring re-usable bags. Unfortunately, Fairway is one of the few stores that doesn't reward customers who bring their own bags.

Sliced and diced

This same shopper noticed the low-calorie rye bread she buys at ShopRite isn't so low-calorie anymore.

Without notice, a slice went from 50 calories to 60 calories, and from 3 grams of fiber to 2 grams. She tracked down the bakery that makes the bread for ShopRite, Weight Watchers and Manischewitz and was told the changes made the bread taste better.

Only the low-calorie rye made for Stop & Shop wasn't altered, she said.

For meat lovers

On Tuesday, I bought four organic Pinata apples that were on sale for 99 cents a pound at Whole Food Markets in Paramus, compared to $1.29 a pound for conventional apples at ShopRite in Rochelle Park.

At checkout, I received a $5-off coupon on a purchase of $20 through Feb. 14. It's labeled "Cook for Your Valentine," but it's good only on meat purchases.

Why no coupon for non-meat eaters? 

Image via Wikipedia

Sardines in the Sahara

Sahara Fine Food in Hackensack continues to offer Al Shark-brand Moroccan sardines for 99 cents a can (not skinless and boneless). Each can contains four and three-eighths ounces. 

I bought 18 cans with spicy oil, and plan to eat them in canned-fish salads, with rice and pasta, or over salad greens. The sardines also come in non-spicy oil. Sahara is at 242 S. Summit Ave. (201-487-7222.)

No rhyme or reason

I found another item on sale at ShopRite that wasn't discounted during the recent 40th anniversary Can Can Sale. The 100% sparkling juice from Spain is $1.99 a bottle, compared to $2.49, with a limit of four.

Last week, my wife bought four, one-pound boxes of Barilla pasta for 77 cents each. They weren't on sale during the Can Can sale, either.

Non-meat chili

Among the lobster bisque and king crab soup at Costco in Hackensack, I found a Stockpot-brand four-bean, organic, vegetarian chili. The chili is fully cooked. For $9.99, you get two 24-ounce tubs and each is enough to serve three as a first course.

99 cents sardines in Hackensack

Image by Ahron de Leeuw via Flickr

I was delighted to find the Moroccan sardines I have been buying in Paterson for 99 cents a can at Sahara Stores -- the Middle Eastern deli and grocery in Hackensack where I stopped for bread on Tuesday.

Sardines are so versatile -- they make a great sandwich with hummus, cheese, greens and tomato; they're wonderful added to rice or spaghetti and tomato sauce; and they are a tasty component in canned fish salad (sardines, tuna, red salmon, chopped red onion, cumin and Dijon mustard).

I have been buying Al Shark-brand Moroccan sardines from Fattal's Syrian Bakery, which has the lowest prices around, even lower than the much bigger Corrado's supermarket about a mile away. They come in oil, spicy oil and tomato sauce -- usually 99 cents for a 4 and three-eighth ounce can.

On Tuesday, Sahara Stores had the Al Shark sardines in spicy oil for 99 cents, and I picked up 10 cans. I also bought California Gardens-brand fava beans with mild chili for $1.09 a can and grape leaves stuffed with rice (Turkey) for $2.79. This is a well-stocked grocery and I didn't check out all the items.

Chef-owner Mohsen Mekawi, who is Egyptian, also prepares a large number of Middle Eastern dishes. Falafel are four for $1 and a pound of stuffed grape leaves is $5.99. Sandwiches range from falafel for $2.99 to egg and basterma for $5.99. Dinners with rice, salad and bread are $9.99 to $11.99.

Sahara Stores, 242 S. Summit Ave., Hackensack; 

201-487-7222.

Fattal's Syrian Bakery, 975-977 Main St., Paterson; 

973-742-7125.