For more than a century, the Tabbara family has been serving up falafel to Beirut's residents.
“They all come to eat falafel because they know the flavor and the taste,” Tabbara added.
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Ziad has no children of his own to pass on the tradition to – a sore point with his father who wants to see him married with children.
Kamel passed the business to his son Ahmad. Since 1950, the business has been mostly run by Kamel's grandson Mohammed. It was around that time that the family moved its business from central Beirut. The current shop in a narrow street has been in place since 1979.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Mohammed Tabbara, who began working with his dad at the shop when he was just 6 years old, still mans the counter, taking orders from clients and assembling sandwiches. Always smiling, Mohammed knows many customers by name. Some have been getting falafel there for decades.
Beirut is known throughout the Middle East for its cuisine, from fine restaurants to street food.
Small falafel spots can be found throughout Lebanon. A sandwich is a filling, affordable meal for people in a nation that's been experiencing a historic economic meltdown since 2019, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement.
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He takes pride in the shop's cleanliness. They change the cooking oil every day and wash the vegetables with vinegar and salt.
Jean Matta, 60, works in the neighborhood and has been eating falafel at Tabbara since 1992. “It's crunchy, tasty and clean,” Matta said.
Ziad has learnt his father's special secret recipe for falafel, which is made of Australian fava beans soaked in water the night before, then ground before being mixed with salt and an array of spices, including coriander. Mohammed said chickpeas, used in many falafel recipes, are heavier and take more time to digest than fava beans alone. He also said he was the first in Lebanon to introduce a falafel patty covered with sesame seeds and with a hole in the middle, making it well-cooked inside and crunchy on the outside.
“God willing, I will continue to offer the same flavour,” Ziad said.