Filafel, Tehina, Pittah (1939)

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The PALESTINE POST is available, by the same software team that gave you  the
BROOKLYN EAGLE.
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I decided to have a falafel.
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Palestine Post
The Palestine Post is a Jewish historical  newspaper that was published in
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31 December 1939
PALESTINE POST
pg. 10
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_"FILAFEL" COMES_
_INTO ITS OWN_
By LILIAN CORNFELD
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UNSEEN revolutions are brewing in the world of food. Filafel, rather messy
and dubious looking, has come into its own, claiming its place amongst foods of
 dietetic value. Formerly restricted to the sea shore and Oriental sections
of  Tel Aviv, these fried vegetable cakes can now be found in the very heart of
the  city, proclaiming their odoriferous presence from every street corner.
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Teachers and students alike fortify themselves against the trials of the
coming hours with this tasty dish. Mothers assure themselves for the small sum
of half a piastre of an extra half hour's sleep, and even babies in arms
scarcely able to say "Aba," clamour loudly for filafel.
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_How to Make_
What is the secret of filafel's strange success? It is made of chick peas,  a
pulse of great nutritional value, containing a high percentage of calories,
iron and vitamin B. These peas are soaked for the best part of 24 hours, til
they swell and become soft. Then they are ground to a fine paste, to which a
little flour and water is added, making a batter-like consistency. Then comes
the (Col. 2--ed.) seasoning, not at all an easy matter.
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Besides the salt and red or green pepper, "Cousbara" is added unsparingly.  A
touch of garlic, or if you prefer onion, completes your seasoning.
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A spoonlike contraption forms the mixture into litle cakes and drops them
into boiling fat, to fry till they become a golden brown. However much we may
object to frying,--if fry you must, this at least is the proper way of doing
it.
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_How to Serve_
Serving a filafel is something of a cermony. They are served with two kinds
of sauces, "tehina," or a vegetable one. The "tehina" is made of ground sesame
 seeds, which by the way are very wholesome, worked to a mayonnaise with
water  and then seasoned with lemon juice and chopped aprsley. The vegetable sauce
is  made of ground tomatoes and sharp peppers mixed with water qand very
highly  spiced. These sauces stand in two jars, cafeteria style, and you may help
yourself to whichever you prefer. Half a pittah is split open, five filafels
snugly enclosed with a couple of potato chips thrown in for good measure, and
as  much tehina or vegetable sauce as you wish for. That is a complete meal.
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19 October 1939
PALESTINE POST
pg. 4
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If you have good teeth and a cast iron constitution, "begel" are not too
bad. These are brought to you by a down at the heels looking person. Why the
begel vendor is down at the heels I do not exactly know except that it is an old
Jewish tradition.
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The most popular of all, however, is the Filafel Man. He seems to give you
an almost unlimited amount of food for next to nothing. There is first half a
pita (Arab loaf), slit open and filled with five filafels, a few fried chips
and  sometimes even a little salad. The whole is smeared over with _Tehina_, a
local  mayonnaise made with sesame oil. Unhappy the person who does not know
the  delights of filafel, for into the making of this delicacy go chick pea
paste  pounded together with coriander, cummin, hot peppers and other oriental
spices.  They are then fried in little cakes in deep fat.
(...)
Most refreshing of all are _sabras_ sold right off the ice.