I remember the first time I ever had falafels, I was seventeen or eighteen and went to London to visit Anna, a friend I had been to junior school with. We had kept in touch with each other by writing letters – so from when I had last seen her in the July when I was eleven, I hadn’t seen her until I arrived in London six or seven years later. I don’t think we had even telephoned each other as we didn’t have a phone at home until I was fourteen, and social phoning wasn’t a thing for me then.
I arrived in London, and I only have a blur of memory for most of the time I was there, but we went to a little café for dinner and she ordered something which I had never even heard of, let alone come across – falafels with tahini and maybe hummus. It came in a soft bun/bap/roll and was so delicious! It had flavours I’d never tasted before, and was so crunchy on the outside and soft-textured inside. It was very very garlicky but I didn’t realise. I was a similar age when I came across garlic in France while staying with my pen-friend and I chomped on several whole cloves before I realised what they were.
Back to falafels with Anna. So my first introduction to these delicious but humble items was bathed in the glow of being in good company with a dear friend and experiencing new and exciting things on my first solo visit to ‘the Smoke’. When I was eighteen I went to Manchester and although I don’t specifically remember falafel-related incidents then, I must have eaten a fair few, big ones, small ones, round ones, the occasional flat ones, all sorts – and then some, and so I have ever since. I have never tried making them, I think I realise that simple though they are, there must be a knack to them and I’m pretty sure I would end up with a pan full of bits of ground up chick-peas!
So tonight a friend and I went up to Bristol to a poetry evening in a café called Jack the Falafel on Gloucester Road. Our friend and writing buddy Macaque was performing and we always enjoy listening to his work, even though we know it well. Neither of us had eaten so we ordered falafels and salad which arrived in a nice wooden bowl and I tucked in straight away. The falafels, instead of being round, were slightly flattened into little cakes, and were really delicious! My friend, however, was disconcerted that they weren’t round – she is a great falafel eater and having lived in London knows a lot about them having enjoyed them on many many occasions.
I’ve been looking up falafel shapes, and it seems that although balls are more common, there are plenty of flattened ones too:
- Best Turkish falafels are round-shaped fritters, made with chickpeas
- Falafel is a round or patty shaped fritter made with chickpeas
- Shape the falafel mixture into ping pong-sized balls, then flatten slightly into patties
- Shape into round balls or ovals using two spoons
- Hand-shape them into balls or slightly flattened disks
Now I know, but I bow to my friend’s greater experience in the world of falafels.
You can read Macaque’s blog here: https://thepoetmacaque.wordpress.com/
Lois Elsden 