Photograph by roboppy In a move that may or may not threaten the Middle Eastern peace process, Lebanon is planning to sue Israel in Trade Court over Israel's proprietary Arab food claims: According to a report by the Deutsche Presse Agentur, Germany's news agency, a Lebanese trade union is planning to sue Israel for claiming that the Jewish state has propriety over traditional Arab cuisine such as falafel, tabbouleh and hummus, which Lebanese consider their own. All right, if Lebanon is going to sue Israel for falafel copyright infringement, my imagination runs wild at the thought of other countries getting into the food copyright business. After the jump, my list of domestic and international food lawsuits waiting to happen.... More

Though not by any means a quintessentially Parisian food, falafel sandwiches from the hip Paris neighborhood known as the Marais have become a must-eat tourist destination. No wonder—not only is falafel one of the best foods ever invented, but these messy pita sandwiches are a key opportunity to eat on the Paris street without garnering dirty looks from the locals. But which falafel place should you choose? There are three famous options within a block of each other, and serious falafel eaters have strong opinions about which one is the best. Here are the options. L'As du Falafel Paris's most famous falafel joint, this restaurant is item number two on David Lebovitz's list of 10 Insanely Delicious Things You Shouldn't... More

Though Israelis and Palestinians have trouble seeing eye to eye, they do stuff similar street foods in their mouths. Olives, falafel, flatbreads, nuts, and hummus crowd the streets of Jerusalem, but what do these foods say about the war-torn metropolis? In this engaging (and twelve-minute long) special from Al Jazeera, we visit places like the hummus joint "From Gaza to Berlin," where the name comes from the physical location (Berlin Street) and the built-in regional metaphor. Like Israel, the food here is somewhere between East and West. "There is no Israeli food. All our food is from neighbors and Jewish immigration that came to Israel," says one local.... More

How to live a less meat-centric life: Mark Bittman writes, "The arguments for eating less meat are myriad and well-publicized, but at the moment they’re irrelevant, because what I want to address here is (almost) purely pragmatic: How do you do it?" His answers are pretty simple: buy less meat, buy more vegetables. Ago is a mess: Frank Bruni visits the self-proclaimed "hot spot" Ago, an Agostino Sciandri and Robert DeNiro venture in the new Greenwich Hotel in TriBeCa. It gets zero stars and some artful prose detailing Bruni's multiple meals gone awry. Gardening as economic strategy: There hasn't been such an interest in growing food at home since the 1970s. Marian Burros points to higher grocery costs and... More

By Robyn Lee | I don't know how L'as du Falafel can be considered the best falafel in Paris when Mi-Va-Mi sits right across the street. It may not be Lenny Kravitz approved (although how that become the gold standard for a great falafel I have no idea), but it's at least Robyn and Meg approved, which must count for something. Mi-Va-Mi's falafel pita sandwich stuffs light, crispy deep fried balls of seasoned ground chickpea in a soft, fluffy, chewy pita along with melty eggplant chunks that are reminiscent of butter and what seems to be an entire head of chopped pickled red cabbage. It would be better with more falafel and eggplant magic and less crunchy cabbage action,... More