Falafel

Falafel is a fried patty or ball of ground legumes and spices, most often chickpeas in the Levant and fava beans, where it is called ta'ameya, in Egypt. Food historians generally trace the dish's origin to Egypt, with one widely cited theory holding that Coptic Christians developed it roughly a thousand years ago as a protein-rich meatless food for the fasting periods of the Coptic calendar. From Egypt the dish spread into the Levant, with a documented falafel shop opening in Beirut in 1933, and Levantine cooks generally substituted chickpeas for fava beans while keeping the frying method and general form. Falafel is claimed today as a national or emblematic dish by multiple countries and communities across the Middle East, and the question of whose dish it is has become entangled with modern political disputes over cultural ownership and identity in the region; this entry describes the culinary history food historians have documented rather than adjudicating those disputes.