Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Falafel in Paris...

I'm a little sad that I didn't have enough time to truly give my all to the falafel sandwich we had for sandwich night this week. They were delicious, no doubt about that. But they could have been even better So, indulge me while I write a little ode to Parisian falafel since I couldn't actually try to make one myself.

I've been to Paris twice. The first time I went I was in college and travelling on the super cheap. I was delighted to find such incredible street food in Paris. I was happily subsisting on crepes and cheese sandwiches when my friends took me to a place in the Marais for falafel. Falafel? In Paris? What? The falafel I had that time was as big as my head, full of tons of stuff and probably cost less than $5. I have no idea what was even on it, there were some many flavors melding together. It was a gorgeous sunny summer day and we stood on the sidewalk beside the take out window inhaling the sandwiches before they completely disintegrated into gooey deliciousness. Mmm..

A few years ago I returned to Paris with Beth. I knew I had to take her to that falafel place in the Marais. What I didn't know was that the street our hotel was located on, rue de la Huchette, is the main Greek restaurant and falafel stand street in the Latin Quarter. We kept returning to one falafel stand with a buffet of salads to garnish your sandwich. You could just point to as many of them as they could stuff in there. They had incredible pickled carrots. By the time we hit the Marais we were truly aficionados of the artform. And the falafel we had there did not disappoint either!

So, figure out how to get to Paris. Eat falafel.

5 comments:

Jane said...

The best falafel I had was in Israel, from some street vendor in Kiryat Shmona. It was D-lisch because the falafel balls weren't hard and dry, they were hot and juicy. Can't ask for much more than that! Oh, and the sauce was super yummy.

Rebecca said...

I heard that they put french fires in the falafel sandwiches in Israel, too. Mmmmm...

Anonymous said...

I never saw french fries in falafel in Israel, but they are in the gyros in Greece. Which I was weirded out about at first, but did add a certain something, I have to say.

Our favorite falafel stand in Kir-Shmo was hit by a katouche rocket last summer :( Hopefully they've rebuilt! Jane, where was your place? I'll have to check it out this summer!

Jane said...

I have no idea where the stand was - sadly, I didn't spend enough time in the city to get my bearings on the place. However, I have a picture of it, maybe there is a recognizable landmark nearby?

Unknown said...

Thanks to my friend Ethan, I now know that the name of the falafel place in the Marais is Le Roi du Falafel.

Mmmmm...falafel...