Falafel

Plat du jour

This is the first post in a new series that I’m calling the plat du jour - the dish of the day. Most restaurants in France have a plat du jour, which is the equivalent of what we would call the daily special. It’s usually something that is in season and hence less expensive, it’s almost always a good deal, and it’s also a great convenience for the chef: at least half of the customers will order the plat du jour, and it’s easier to make the same dish many times.

I realized that I have so many photos of interesting dishes that I’ve made or eaten that I want to post them in shorter format and more frequently. In my case, it won’t be daily and I won’t be making the same dish many times. The dishes I feature here will be in season though - I will post them in the same month that I prepared or ordered them.

I made falafel this weekend. It takes less time than you may think: half an hour to mix the batter, let it sit in the fridge for an hour, then another half hour to fry them.

I use the recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook (you can google it), with the following modifications: I triple the parsley and cilantro, and also add fresh dill, in about the same amount as the parsley.

I fry them in sunflower oil in my wok, but a heavy saucepan works just as well. I find that while one batch of six is frying, I can shape/form the next batch.

You can eat them in pita, with any number of additions: some ideas are lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, avocado, olives, tzatziki sauce, tahini dressing, and/or zhoug - a spicy mixture of fresh herbs and some flavorful spices. You can look that up too for a recipe.

For a simple work lunch or dinner that’s ready in five minutes, I skip the pita (which I don’t usually have on hand), chop some lettuce, cucumber and tomato into a bowl, put the falafel on top, and make an instant sauce with yogurt and a little sriracha.

It’s very good, and satisfying, but not the best falafel I’ve ever had. I take people to what I affectionately call the “temple of falafel” whenever I am in Paris. The restaurant is called L’As du Fallafel, in the traditionally Jewish part of the Marais, and there’s always a line - I’ve never seen it shorter than twenty people.

When you’re at the back of the line, don’t give up! It moves surprisingly quickly.

Their sauces are amazing, and they add two delicious things to their pita sandwiches that I don’t take the time to make: a cabbage slaw, and extraordinarily rich pieces of eggplant slowly cooked in a ridiculous amount of olive oil.

Well worth the wait.