Experiencing Greenwich Village: Falafel

The day after arriving in Greenwich Village, I began to notice signs everywhere advertising "the best falafel in town." While I consider myself reasonably well cultured when it comes to experiencing different kinds of food, I had never heard of a "falafel." But, despite my ignorance, I was immediately drawn to the food. Maybe my attraction was due to the fact that it was something new. Maybe it was because of all the signs. Or maybe it was just because all the advertisements said it was just two bucks, and I couldn't find anything else anywhere close to that price. Whatever the attraction was, I quickly dragged wife to try our first falafels.


Falafel is made from fava beans or chickpeas (or a combination of the two). The Egyptian variation uses fava beans, while other variations generally use chickpeas. Chickpea falafels are served across the Middle East, particularly in Israel, and have been popularized by expatriates of those countries living abroad. The beans used for falafel are soaked, then ground with the addition of a small quantity of onion, parsley, spices, and then deep fried.


The chickpea has an amazing history of its own. The chickpea was used as a food item in Palestine before 4000 BC, and was a common street dish in ancient Rome. Historians note that the chickpea was one of the earliest crops cultivated in Mesopotamia. Archeological evidence identifies chickpeas in the Sumerian diet before 2500 BC.


Falafel is generally served in a pita (either inside the pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flat pita). The falafel balls, whole or crushed, are topped with "salads," consisting of lettuce, tomato, onion, and often a little carrot and purple cabbage. A wonderful sause, called, tehina, is then drizzled over the top. To add a bit of a kick, I then pour hot sause over the top


While falafel sandwhiches are amazing by themselves, what makes them absolutely amazing is paying an extra fifty cents and having a few scoops of humas smothered inside the pita before the other ingredients are added. This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite meals of all time (an opinion which Wife does not share).


When walking through Greenwich Village, you will find countless places that want to sell you a falafel - but there is one shop that stands head and shoulders above the rest: Mamoun's Falafel. The lines are always incredibly long, but they move shockingly fast. Know what you want to order before you get in line (this is very important). When the clerk points at you and shouts,"Next," be prepared to immediately shout out what you want. Failure to observe this point will result in a painful belittling by the clerk and jeers from the crowd waiting in line (I have seen this happen to countless tourists). But the process is very easy. When the clerk points at you, just rattle off, "A falafel sandwhich with humas."

119 MacDougal St
New York, NY 10012
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