Falafel is a vegetarian Middle_Eastern snack that has become popular street-food around the world; served in a pitta bread and topped with salad and tahini or chilli sauce. It also makes a great snack or appetizer at the dinner table. It's said to have originated in Egypt and is made primarily of chick peas or fava bean deep fried.

In the so called Food-War between Israel and Lebanon, Beiruti restaurants recently teamed up to make the largest falafel mix (over 5,000 kg of it) according to the Guiness Book of Records. Over in New York an Israeli chef responded by making a 3ft, 11kg, falafel ball. Imagine the size of the pitta bread! Anyway, make food, not war. Here's a common recipe:

Tabbouleh is a traditional Syrian Arab salad served with a meze or as a side to meat dishes. The bulgur wheat used in its preparation is high in fiber, vitamins and minerals.

If you have the stamina to make this dish you are in for a real treat as it captures some of the flavours of the Middle East. This is the Lebanese version, however, variations of cabbage rolls are made in many parts of Europe and especially in Hungary, Croatia and Sweden. Cabbage rolls are similar to dolmades made in Greece and Koupepia made in Cyprus but the vine leaves are replaced by cabbage leaves. In Sweden, vine leaf was replaced with cabbage as it was more readily available.

Cabbage rolls may be made with course ground beef, lamb or pork or a mixture of these. The lebanese version uses lamb and this combines perfectly with the flavours of the lemon and mint.