Aha, another food post at last! As you all know, it's never far from our minds. Anyway, one of the foods that we have taken a fancy to here in Berlin is Middle-Eastern food. Germany has a big Turkish population and luckily for us they have brought their cuisine with them. The most popular dish in Berlin by far is the doner kebab. Now available around the world, this dish varies from country to country. In Germany, this is a minced meat compressed and cooked on an enormous skewer-like thing-a-majig, then sliced and put in a thick flatbread with salad and covered with a yogurt and also a spicy sauce. The Germans love it so much apparently they eat 2-3 metric tonnes of it a day which adds up to about €1.5 billion a year. That's a lot of doner. Eric loves it and often gets doner-cravings.
Me, I have to say I prefer the other vegetarian Middle-Eastern "sandwiches", those stuffed with grilled halloumi (a type of cheese, which Eric doesn't like 'cause he says it's too squeaky!) or falafel. It was while eating Falafel in pita-bread that I though to myself 'I could make this!' So we tried it out at home. First I scoured the internet and found recipes for both the falafel and the pita bread. The falafel were made by grinding together chickpeas, onions, garlic, and a load of herbs and spices. I made them into small bite-size patties (see top pic), and then fried them.
I then made up the pita-bread dough, which Eric kneaded and divided up. They were then rolled out and let rise and then popped in the oven.
They puffed up so nicely in the oven. It was so exciting to see!
Then when it was done and out of the oven we stuffed the pitas with the falafels, lettuce, tomato and hummus. Oh boy oh boy, the joy of eating something that you make yourself. Eric thinks he looks mental in this photo but I think he just looks like he is really enjoying our homemade falafel in pita-bread. (Okay, maybe just the teeny-tiniest bit mental - it's all in the eyes!)PS I'm not posting the recipes as they are both really long (but not complicated) but if you want them just let me now and I'll email them to you.
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3 comments:
that sounds yummy . . .
even i would enjoy the pita w/falafel
peace love and a worthwhile effort
Your food looks delicious!!! I loved the lunch we had at the Middle Eastern restaurant in Berlin. I especially liked the falafel. I'm impressed that you made your own pita bread. I'm sure it's much better than the pita bread I buy at the store.
Ceci
I have made pita bread before myself, and it is quite a thrill to see them puff up in the oven. Eric often has a bit of a crazed look about the eyes. It's nothing new. Therese
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