Middle Eastern Fast Foods

Middle Eastern Fast Foods

Baba ghanoush is a dip made from roasted eggplant blended with tahini. There's also an untraditional mayonnaise-based look-alike that is a concession to perceived Western tastes.

Falafel, the region's fast-food snack, consists of deep-fried chickpea balls. The name also refers to the whole production of the balls served in pita pockets with salads and sauces. It's filling, nutritious, and cheap.

Hummus, a ubiquitous dish in this region, is a creamy paste made from chickpeas, moistened with olive oil and tahini, and scooped up with pieces of flat pita bread. Eat hummus at a Middle Eastern specialty place; many "Western" establishments serve poor imitations.

Kibbeh, a popular Kurdish-Iraqi specialty, is seasoned ground meat formed into small torpedo shapes and deep-fried in a jacket of bulgur (cracked wheat).

Labaneh, derived from the Hebrew word for white, is somewhere between tart yogurt and cream cheese. It's typically dressed with olive oil, garnished with herbs, and scooped up with chunks of pita bread.

Me'oorav yerushalmi (Jerusalem mixed grill) is a specialty of the grills on Agrippas Street, near the market. It's a deliciously seasoned meal of grilled chicken hearts and other organ meats in pita.

Shawarma is grilled meat (lamb or turkey), also served in pita bread with salads and sauces. It's sold at stands in the Ben Yehuda Street open-air mall, and near the Machaneh Yehuda produce market.

Tahini is a slightly runny white sauce made from sesame seeds and sometimes thickened with cornstarch. The delicious green variety has parsley blended into it.