Dashing out to Paterson for $1 bag of falafel, sardines and much more

A bag of five freshly fried falafel is $1 at Salah Edin Middle Eastern Restaurant, 995 Main St., Paterson. Fattal's is on the next block.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

An ideal visit to Paterson would combine sightseeing at the Great Falls, lunch in Aleppo Restaurant and shopping for Syrian bread, spices, yogurt drink and other food in the city's bustling Middle Eastern bazaar.

On Saturday, I wanted to replenish my supply of canned Moroccan sardines, bread and spices, but didn't want to fight the crowds at The Falls, now a national historical park.

So, I headed for Fattal's, where you can get Syrian bread, groceries, meat and poultry, and sit down and enjoy a freshly made falafel sandwich (975-977 Main St.).

In addition to one-stop shopping, Fattal's offers a large parking lot. 

Fattal's parking attendant allowed me to run over to Salah Edin on the next block to order two $1 bags of falafel, but said next time I should try Fattal's superior version.

A refrigerated case in Fattal's offers many kinds of cheese, including Middle Eastern-style string cheese, bottom shelf.

Fattal's offers three types of Al Shark-brand Moroccan sardines, but the ones in tomato sauce contain the lowest amount of sodium (99 cents a can). I use them to prepare organic whole-wheat pasta with sardines and anchovies in a red sauce.

Other shelves hold kits for making falafel, tabbouleh salad and other Middle Eastern specialties; fig preserves, extra-virgin olive oil, bulgur wheat and many other items.

A za'atar spice mixture has four ingredients: Dried thyme, sumac, sesame seeds and salt. I don't buy mixtures that include wheat as a filler.

Yogurt drink, meat pies, sardines

At Fattal's, I filled my shopping cart with a gallon of Merve Ayran Yogurt Drink ($10.29), 18 cans of Al-Shark Sardines in Tomato Sauce ($17.82); and a bag with a dozen medium-size Syrian pocket breads, which are preservative free ($1.50).

Six Fattal's Meat Pies and six Fattal's Spinach Pies were $9.49 each.

A bag of Toros Brown Bulgur Wheat was $1.49, and a box of Sadaf Tabouli Mix was $3.19.

A large bag of Salloum Bros. Za'atar from Lebanon that weighed nearly a pound was $5.59.

You can add za'atar to fried eggs, omelets and hummus; rub it into poultry or meat before cooking, or add olive oil to the thyme mixture and spread it on bread.

On returning home from Paterson, I stuffed two halves of a fresh Syrian bread with falafel, organic spring mix and hummus, and enjoyed them as a light lunch.

I added fresh lime juice, minced fresh garlic and Lebanese extra-virgin olive oil to the contents of a can I had in the cupboard, above and below, and garnished the dip with chopped fresh mint from the garden.

Libano Verde-brand Chickpea Dip from Lebanon is sold at Fattal's. Ingredients are chickpeas, sesame paste, salt and citric acid.

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.

From the roar of the Great Falls to a bustling Middle Eastern bazaar

Paterson's Great Falls, now part of a national park, is a major tourist attraction in a city that also boasts a bustling neighborhood of Middle Eastern and Turkish restaurants and bakeries.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If like me you hate traffic noise and all of those annoying motorcycles, I've found a roar both of us can live with.

On a visit to Paterson's Great Falls, you'll witness the power of Mother Nature and hear the glorious roar of falling water, which completely drowns out the human cacophony.

Then, you can drive a couple of miles to the city's South Paterson neighborhood for a snack of freshly prepared falafel, and to shop in Fattal's, where you'll find bread, pastries, meat, olives and olive oil, shelves of groceries and even gold bracelets.

Fattal's Spinach & Cheese Pies have no artificial ingredients, and they freeze beautifully.

Good food, free parking

Fattal's isn't the only Main Street store with free parking, but the lot is one of the biggest and on the weekends, a tall man acts as part guard, part traffic cop, directing you to a free space and helping you back out when it's time to leave.

After I visited the Great Falls on Saturday, I stopped at Fattal's for 18 cans of Al Shark-brand Moroccan Sardines in Tomato Sauce (99 cents each) and a tray of Spinach & Cheese Pies ($8.99).

I also picked up a half-gallon of Ayran Original Yogurt Drink, which has a lower sodium content than competing brands ($5.49).

On the next block, I went into Salah Edin Middle Eastern Restaurant and ordered $4 worth of falafel balls (7 for $1) and a small container of tahini sauce ($3).

I had to wait about 15 minutes while they were prepared, but when I got to my car, I ate two of the piping hot falafel dipped in tahini.

I could taste them all the way home.

Lunch spot

If you want more than a falafel snack, Aleppo Restaurant at Main and Thomas streets serves an array of Syrian specialties.

Three of my favorites are lentil soup; muhammara, a spicy dip made of sweet and hot red peppers, and the chopped Arabic Salad. 

Details

Great Falls National Historical Park, 72 McBride Ave., Paterson. National Park Service Welcome Center open 7 days.

Fattal's, 975-77 Main St., Paterson; 1-973-742-7125. Open 7 days, free parking lot.

Salah Edin Middle Eastern Restaurant, 995 Main St., Paterson; 1-973-225-0575. Open 7 days. Credit-card minimum is $10.

Aleppo Restaurant, 939 Main St., Paterson; 1-973-977-2224. Open 7 days. Call for hours during the holy month of Ramadan, which ends July 17. No alcohol allowed.