As one of the millions of Americans who don't like falafel, I feel somewhat chagrined today. Like many of my countrymen, I made a series of mistakes, errors of perception that drove me further into the darkness. First of all, I thought the fried chickpea balls I had tried were competently made, when in fact they weren't. Then, I thought this bad falafel was a good representative of Middle Eastern cooking, at least of the kind I was likely to encounter at restaurants. Since most of the kebabs, hummus, and other Middle Eastern staples were no better than the falafel that I tended to encounter in New York, I felt justified in thinking, and even saying, that I didn't like Middle Eastern food. My wife, who has Israeli dual citizenship, thought this misguided; but then she said the same thing about buying an Audi on Craigslist, and look how right I was about that!
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Time.
