- Good morning, hope you're
having an amazing day.
It's Mark Wiens.
I'm in Sidon, Lebanon,
in the south of Lebanon.
But locally it's known as
Saida, the Arabic name.
Today we are gonna go
on a food tour of Sidon.
We're gonna eat a lot of the local foods
that are unique to Sidon.
It's an ancient city.
We're gonna walk around the
old markets, the old souks.
We're gonna see some of the
famous sites, eat a lot of food.
My friend Kamel is from Sidon,
so he knows all the backstreets.
We'll be hanging out with Maia and Fadi
and also have a couple
friends with us as well
and we are gonna show you all of the food
and give you a full tour of the amazing,
fascinating city of Sidon, Lebanon.
(electronic bass music)
(cars honking)
We're getting into the old
souks, into the old part of Sidon
which is the main part of the city
that we're gonna be exploring today.
The spices, the fresh
fruits and vegetables.
I'm already loving it,
and we've just been
here for three minutes.
(crowd murmuring)
I did my intro right
next to a pan of almonds,
so we may as well try some of
the green almonds right now.
- [Fadi] They're really good.
- Yeah.
When they're green, oh yeah.
You can eat the whole skin and all.
Good morning Kamel.
- Morning.
(crowd murmuring)
- So we haven't tried this yet.
This is, I just went to that
guy said, "What do you have?"
And this is the best thing, I think,
that he has on his cart, liquorice.
- A cup of liquid liquorice.
(car honks)
Oh, yeah I love it too,
it's not that sweet.
Very medicinal tasting
though like, bitter.
- You trying his carob as well.
- [Mark] Okay.
- The guy thinks that the carob here
is nicer than the one in Italy.
- [Mark] What is this one, caroob?
- [Kamel] The carob--
- Carob, oh yeah, the carob.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah from
that pine tree, right?
The man here, he's insisting we try
this version in Sidon as well.
Ooh, that is sweet.
(speaks in Arabic)
- [Kamel] Did I ever disappoint you?
- [Mark] Like never.
We're just immediately
getting into the market.
You see the meats, the
fresh seasonal vegetables.
There's a lot of seafood in Sidon as well.
I think, gonna try to
find a place that is,
specializes in fish in the market.
Just straight fresh fish.
I think that might be
the first thing you eat,
the first thing we eat
for breakfast today.
With the vibrancy, the colors, the action,
I'm already loving it here.
(easygoing reggae music)
Oh, it smells good, the aromas,
the aromas coming out of
this market are fantastic.
Oh, we actually go into the
market to choose our fish?
Oh, here it is, okay.
- [Fadi] Yeah. We're choosing our fish.
(fish monger speaks in Arabic)
- [Fadi] They're really
proud of their fish.
- [Mark] They have a selection of fish,
especially trying to
focus on the local fish
which are the sardines
and the red mullets.
And then we'll also get a few of these,
what are these ones called?
(speaks in Arabic)
It's also a local, from
the waters here off
of the coast of Lebanon, off of Sidon.
(fish monger speaks in Arabic)
(men speak in Arabic)
(oil boils)
- Everything is deep frying,
bubbling away the fish.
One type of fish in here, one
type of fish in that side,
and then the fries are going.
You gotta eat fries but like the bubble
or the oil is bubbling.
The fish, fresh, deep fried fish.
I love it.
(background chattering in Arabic)
(man speaks in Arabic)
(oil boils fiercely)
- I guess we have had a lot of fried bread
but already fried, I didn't
get to see them fry it.
But he just fried the fish
and like right after the fish,
he chucks on, he like frisbees,
you know like uses them like frisbees
and throws them into the oil.
Oh man, they're just drenched
and fried and crispy.
(metal tongues scrape against metal board)
(easygoing reggae music)
- [Man Offscreen] Yes.
(mumbling in the background)
- I'll give you one, Kamel as well.
- Oh whoa, That bread,
it's still dripping in oil.
Dipped in the Tahini.
Yeah, the freshness of that fried bread.
It's so good, it is oily
and greasy and so good.
(cooking oil sizzles)
(shrimp crackles and sizzle)
(prawns sizzle furiously)
(oil boils)
(metal clangs)
(shrimp boils)
He rocked those shrimp.
He poured, I think that
was olive oil or butter,
maybe butter, but he ignited that on fire,
then left them to cook, and
then finally at the end,
I think it's a mixture of
coriander and lemon juice.
Probably a little bit
of olive oil as well,
and that just exploded with
fire and he just rocked it.
Oh, that was a great
job, that smells so good,
just like, fire roasted.
You smell the lemon, you smell the
seared coriander in there.
(easygoing reggae music)
(chattering in Arabic)
- [Kamel] Why don't you have a shrimp?
(cutlery clatters against the plates)
We all gotta try that shrimp
first as the first bite,
'cause that's right outta the pan,
he just fried that amazingly.
(traffic hums in the background)
Oh wow!
(chuckles)
Oh, that, that explosion of fire?
Equals explosion of flavor, wow!
(woman speaking in Arabic)
Man, in this part of the world
there's only one thing
you can do with sauce.
Wipe it up with bread.
(car honks)
That makes it way better.
You have triple the amount of
sauce in your mouth at once.
The garlic, wow!
The coriander.
(man speaking in Arabic)
Let's try those sardines,
freshly, freshly deep fried
just with a squeeze of lemon on them.
(hums in approval, smacks lips)
What I love about, it's not even salted,
those are just the pure, fresh sardines
just deep-fried in oil.
Crispy, so good, so fresh, so tasty.
(crackles)
(man speaking in Arabic)
This is the Mutabo, which
is roasted eggplant.
With some of the fresh dried bread.
Oh wow.
The smokiness, the creaminess.
The Tahini in there, the
olive oil, the Sumach.
Okay, I'm gonna try one
of the red mullet fish
deep fried, but in Arabic,
it's called the Sultan.
- [Fadi] Sultan Ibrahim.
- Sultan Ibrahim!
The Sultan fish, this
is a well-respected fish
and I also love eating it.
I'll just try it plain first,
but then I wanna try some of
the sauce that goes with it.
Yep, it's a wonderful fish,
again, not even salt on this fish.
And some of the smaller bones
you can just chew right through
because they've been
deep fried for so long.
The Shaktshusha?
- [Man Offscreen] Shakshuka.
- Shakshufa?
- [Man Offscreen] Yeah, Shakshuka.
- It's a mix, there's tomatoes,
there's a number of different
chili peppers in here.
You can really smell the garlic
and then he sprinkles cashews on top.
(people speaks in Arabic)
May I add some of this to my plate?
Then I'll probably add some of the
Fattoush to my plate as
well to mix those juices,
get everything going.
There's lettuce in here,
there's cabbage, there's tomato.
There's a lotta Sumach
in this Fattoush as well.
I'm moving back into the fish, now.
I gotta try it with some of that.
(woman speaks in Arabic)
It's almost like a,
simmered-down, wilted
tomato sauce with chilies,
it's just so fragrant.
(men speak in Arabic)
(woman laughs)
(hums in approval)
Oh, the garlic-iness of that,
the fullness of the tomatoes,
the onions, the crunch of
the cashew, that is so good.
Garlic-y burst of flavor.
(crockery clatters)
(people converse in Arabic)
(fork clicks against the plate)
Okay, next up, for the Rokli'us.
It looks, not totally sure
what the English name is,
but then mix, I'm gonna
take some of the Shaklukfa?
And some of the Tahini,
and mix that around,
in fact, I might add a little
more Tahini to this bite.
Oh wow!
- With the Tahini, is that like?
- [Woman Offscreen] Yes?
- Enrichens it.
Like, you've got the
flavor of the Shakshuka
and the freshness of the fish.
(both hum in approval)
- [Woman Offscreen]
Yummy, (speaks in Arabic).
- That's incredible.
And balance all that with some salad.
(baby mumbles)
The salad is good, too.
All of that Sumach, giving it a wonderful
citrusy flavor, there's
lemon juice in here as well.
It's a must for every meal.
This is a perfect combination,
I've got the Tahini on here,
I've got the Shakshuka, the Shakshufa,
I've got the sardines in there.
Mix this up a little bit.
(cutlery clatters)
(laughs lowly)
(man converses with woman
offscreen in Arabic)
You should pick that up with bread, oh!
(man calling loudly in
Arabic in the background)
Oh wow, that's a wonderful combination.
(alarm goes off)
- Good job.
- That Shakshusha is just so good.
- Thank you.
- Good job.
(people laugh)
[Man Offscreen] Surprise!
(bids farewell in Arabic)
- Bye bye!
(both converse in Arabic)
- Thank you so much!
So nice, they're so cool.
We wanted to pay, they wouldn't
accept payment from us,
these guys, these guys are cool.
And not only, like good sea food,
but you have a view of the
castle, the sea castle,
right as you're sitting there.
It's time to get started
walking around the old market,
the old souks of Sidon.
(easygoing reggae music)
(traffic hums)
Make a left-hand turn
and we are immediately
in the old souk, a quiet
part of the old souk,
there's carpets, there's
handy, hand-made products.
What are we stopping at here?
- This is our next stop,
Food of Humus.
- Oh, yes!
- The best humus in town.
- Okay! (laughs)
It's been like one minute
since the fish feast,
we're having humus now.
- A lovely feast.
- This is something I've,
yeah, I've wanted to have their humus here
in Sidon, in one of the most
famous places for humus in Lebanon.
You can walk in here, he
has a takeaway counter here
and then they even have
some seats down the alley
down there, so we're just gonna.
I dunno where we should sit, maybe?
Maybe just down the inside is cool, too.
Anyway, he's gonna make
us a family platter,
family-sized bowl of humus!
- [Kamel] This guy is legit,
that's a very nice chili sauce.
He makes it himself.
I wish people can smell it.
(blender whirs)
(machinery hums)
(metal taps firmly)
- [Man Offscreen] Hello.
(speaking in Arabic)
(wood pounding onto bowl)
- So much going on here
in this closet-sized shop,
this is an amazing shop, he
makes the humus from scratch,
it's his family recipe,
50 year-old family recipe.
The chickpeas, and he uses,
actually, no recipe, actually,
it's just by eyeball sight,
he pours in the Tahini,
he pours in the lemon juice, and then,
oh man, he's just not even
stopping on the dishes either.
(machinery buzzes)
- [Cook] Have to tell you, that's four
or five table breakfasts.
- It's the coriander.
- [Mark] Oh, wow.
- You come with me and
Rami, we're going to go get
the fresh bread.
(man speaks in Arabic)
(meat and cashews sizzle)
(oil sizzling intensifies)
- [Man Offscreen] Warm.
- Are you serious?
Okay, food is all ready, that one
over-joyous cooking sensation experience.
He whipped up everything,
the chickpeas, the Fuul.
I'm very excited to try everything,
we got a table down here.
(metal clatters and
children speak in Arabic)
(Mark Laughs)
That is next level.
- [Man Offscreen] One minute
max, one minute, one minute!
(heavy electronic bass music)
Never in my life have I seen
a more beautiful display
of humus, chickpeas and faba beans.
This is the most, oh, thank you, Ramil.
(laughs, taunting)
Yeah, Ramil, as we were
watching him make all the
different dishes, the humus
and the Fatayer and the Fuul.
Ramil went to get fresh baked
bread, Sidon special bread.
Maia, join us, yes?
Now, Fadi, you gotta dig down below,
because there's bread, there's
chickpeas on the bottom,
there's minced meat, and
then the ultimate move
that he pulled off, is he
simmered a bunch of cashews
in Ghee, not olive oil, Ghee, animal fat,
and then poured that on top to sizzle it.
This is the bite, cheers!
(all say cheers)
(chuckles)
(others at the table hum in approval)
- Wow!
- Whoa!
- I love it.
- Thank you for the Fatayer.
- Chase it with the onion.
- [Kamel] Onion, pickle, anything.
- Oh, wow.
Never in my life have I
ever had Fatayer like that.
- [Man Offscreen] Yes.
- This one, it's like
smooth, despite it's like
Ghee in there, it's actually
very smooth and like,
kinda light.
- Yep.
- And the fried bread
has just soaked it up
with the meat juices,
with the chickpeas, with those cashews!
I think those cashews is just what puts it
over the top delicious.
That is borderline insane.
(child calls in Arabic)
- [Kamel] It's just the
second largest, is it?
- The humus with the minced meat on top,
with the cashews on top,
and then a scoop of chili,
chili sauce on top.
(chatter in Arabic)
- Oh yeah.
- Oh wow!
I've never tasted humus
like that, that is insane.
Those cashews on top, the mincemeat.
That chili sauce is incredible.
- So good that I've never
seen you speechless before,
like this.
- I don't even know
what to say.
(laughs)
Ramil is feeding everyone.
That's a bite of love.
That Fuul was one of the greatest he made,
what I loved about it
was that he took a bowl,
he mashed the fresh mint, the garlic,
the coriander in there,
he mashed it with a mallet
until it, with salt, and
then he added lemon juice,
he added the Fuul, the faba
beans, he added chickpeas
and then he just drenched it in olive oil.
Then he sprinkled on some chili powder
and then covered it with more herbs,
a combination of both mint and coriander,
dripping with love.
(hums in approval)
- [Ramil] Chase, chase, chase, quickly!
- Oh, chase, quickly!
Pickle, pickle!
Next level, that is stunning.
And it's actually not lemon juice,
it's a special type of citrus
that only grows in Sidon.
Wow.
- Add this.
- Mint.
It's great to chase things
with a pickle and mint leaves.
(pickle crunches)
That Fuul is just, it's
a life-changing Fuul.
- [Ramil] Also, I'm gonna allow myself to
- [Mark] Oh yeah!
Yes, oh, thank you!
- [Ramil] upgrade your
your dish, yeah.
- [Fadi] And some mint in the tea as well.
- [Ramil] Yeah, we can do it.
- We have fresh mint.
- [Ramil] Yeah, we can do it.
- [Kamel] We have fresh mint.
(speaking in Arabic)
- Try the Fuul in the bowl,
Mix in some of the chili, Kamel
mixed in some of the chili
sauce add, garnish it
with mint, with onions,
and actually, I'll just use
an onion to scoop it up,
just, oh man.
(speaking in Arabic)
- [Kamel] Chase?
- Chase, pickle, chase!
Oh wow, I've had Fuul
throughout this whole region,
that is the best Fuul I've ever had.
I think his key is mashing up those herbs
in the bowl before mixing it, as well as
the bitter orange juice.
And those fresh herbs, they
just shine in there. (hums)
Wrapping the bread, I
think I've got it down,
I think you make a little ledge like that,
then you fold it, there we go!
Is that right?
I'm getting the hang of
it, so you have a nice
pure pocket, a scooper!
And we've just been trying
everything else we had,
I haven't even dipped in yet to the actual
just, single plate of humus,
the family platter of humus,
just going right in, 'cause I
wanna maximize the olive oil,
I want some of those herbs.
Oh, and that scooper?
Actually, you can kinda,
you can also kinda
cheat and use a spoon to scoop it on.
I want some of that coriander,
too, okay, there we go.
(man calling out in Arabic)
That's like a proverb here,
everything needs to be olive oiled.
But that's a huge bite of humus, actually.
(laughs)
That is a huge bite of humus. (gasps)
- [Ramil] Oh my God,
I haven't seen Mark's face like that
since with Kamel to Lebanon. (laughs)
- It just like, becomes
one with your mouth.
Like you don't even feel it in your mouth,
it just like, the same
temperature, the same.
It's just like one of
those, the floating therapy,
except in your mouth.
This one, I'm gonna chili sauce.
(woman speaking in Arabic)
Oh, and chase!
I'm gonna try this one, I
don't even know what this is.
(crunches)
- [Fadi] Oh, this food, actually,
is the perfection of food
- [Mark] Yeah.
- It's like the ultimate food.
- [Mark] That is,
I'm gonna go as far as saying it might be
the greatest bean dish on Earth.
(Mark laughs)
- [Fadi] Whoa!
- Maybe!
- [Fadi] News flash,
everybody, news flash.
Mark Wiens is having this bowl of Fuul,
and he's just said this
amazing thing about it.
- [Mark] It is one of the
greatest bean dishes in the world.
- I can't argue with that, this Fuul?
Is the best Fuul I've had
in my life, here in Saida.
(glass clinks)
- [Man Offscreen] So where was he?
- I'm just on a complete
bean high, right now.
That was, those were beans
on the next level, whoa.
The humus here, but that, I think,
actually my favorite dish
of this entire spread
of this entire meal, is the Fuul.
That, (exhales) and just his
precision without measuring
his experience, the way
he mashed everything up,
that bitter orange juice.
But this entire spread is
what made it incredible,
in this alley, in the
ancient streets of Sidon,
this is, what a meal to remember.
What a bean to remember. (chuckles)
(easygoing reggae music)
- Hello, how are you?
We haven't done any walking yet today,
we've walked like 12 meters so far today,
but we have eaten a lot of food. (laughs)
Now it's time to, actually, I
feel it would be really nice
to sit down, so we might
head for a coffee shop.
But we are gonna walk through
the streets a little bit.
(laughs)
(men conversing in Arabic)
Ancient arched alleyway and this,
it's an artisan, he
makes cotton candy local.
Sidon-style cotton candy.
(children speaking in Arabic)
This could be the origins
of cotton candy, y'know,
where it started, but
there's these long strands,
it looks like a wig, almost,
but it's flour and sugar,
that's it, made into strands of strings,
and he dusts off the extra flour.
Y'know, this is artisan cotton candy,
way before artisan existed,
this is the real artisan.
(flour slams)
- Flour, in the air.
- [Man Offscreen] Yeah.
(man speaking in Arabic]
(hums in approval)
- Oh, that is very sweet,
it is like strands of sugar,
like strings of sugar.
(woman speaking in Arabic)
(electronic bass music)
- Just a quick background,
a quick history.
This is an ancient, ancient city,
dating back thousands
and thousands of years,
it was one of the most
important Phoenecian sea ports.
In the ancient history,
Sidon had many conquerors
from the Assyrians to the Babylonians,
Egyptians, Persians and Greeks.
So, the different civilizations that have
passed through here, it's
been mentioned in the Bible
many, many times.
And then it is also said
both Herod the Great
visited Sidon, as well
as Jesus and Saint Paul,
they've all visited Sidon, this is a city
with immense, deep,
historical significance.
It's a functioning full
city in the ancient city,
and then there's markets,
there's everything.
Right here, we're at
one of the oldest cafes
in Sidon, in the old city.
It looks spectacular!
(laughs) Whoa!
Loving this place, only
fans with a shelter.
The tables, this place is amazing.
Oh, it's so cool, you can
feel the history here.
Ramil, how long has this
coffee shop been here?
- Hundreds of years.
- Hundreds of years?
- It's really old.
- It's really old, yeah.
- Decades old.
- Yeah, you can feel it.
(spoon repeatedly clangs metal)
(vapor hisses from the kettle)
- That is the real deal, Lebanese,
but like, Ottoman,
Turkish influenced coffee,
he does it so well, mixes in that coffee,
stirs it over the fire,
and then what he does
is he puts it over the coals
which is even more traditional
as it keeps on cooking,
as it keeps on heating,
as it keeps on brewing.
(conversation in Arabic reverberates)
(spoon clatters dully with the metal)
(coffee maker speaks in Arabic)
(man comments in Arabic)
(coffee trickles into the cup)
- As I'm about to taste
my first sip of coffee,
he's come around, this
is also a traditional
part of the culture, huge raisins,
- [Man Offscreen] Almonds--
- [Mark] Almonds and walnuts.
If anything, I would take.
- [Man Offscreen] No.
(speaking in Arabic)
(nuts clatter)
(plastic bag ruffles)
(conversing in Arabic)
- Ramil, also thank you for
showing us around, then.
Can't wait to try this coffee, and,
he just made it expertly.
(exhales) That is good
coffee, yeah, that is.
It's really smooth, really dark.
You can sip this coffee all day long
and this is the type of coffee,
it's just made for ancient
coffee shops like this.
One of the greatest parts of this culture,
in this entire region of the world,
is just sitting at old
coffee shops like this,
just socializing, spending
time drinking coffee.
(electronic, bass music)
(conversation in Arabic echoes)
- To actually have this
experience of watching,
but for them to allow
us to film, that's rare.
- Yeah.
- You know, like,
and be friendly about it,
it's a very rare experience, very cool.
This is a part of daily
life, daily life, you know?
For some of these men, here.
(lively conversation in Arabic)
- We're in old Saida, as
everybody knows by now,
and that building, that's
where my dad grew up,
it's his grandparent's
place, so there's a very nice
court inside the building.
- That's cool,
right next to the coffee shop?
- Right next to the
coffee shop.
- So he probably has, like,
He probably came here,
- He doesn't talk a lot about
that part of his life,
- Frequently.
- But, yeah, probably.
- [Mark] I'm sure.
(easygoing reggae music)
- Very cool that it's just a pedestrian,
actually, these streets
are all pedestrian,
plus the electric, I think they only allow
electric motorbikes, so it's quiet.
This is a public square,
just the center area.
There's a mosque, there's
cafes around, very cool.
(people converse in Arabic)
Enter into, so Ramil
has explained to me that
we're entering into
the carpenter's section
of the souk, now.
- We're entering the carpenter's section
we'll find a lot of
- All woodwork.
We're already seeing some of
- old people working with wood
and you can even smell
- the furniture available.
- the wood.
- Oh yeah, the pine.
- The pine wood.
- Oh, immediately you can smell the pine
walking in here.
- And you can find some.
- Maybe the cedars are just
wafting through this alleyway,
and that breeze, as soon as
you step into one of these
darker alleys you get that breeze.
- That's for the Kibbeh.
- [Mark] Ah, yeah.
(car honks)
(men speak in Arabic)
Kamel's doing some
shopping for the shop, too.
- Special type of cookies
that I'm selling at the shop,
that's the mold used for those.
- [Mark] Cool.
Step into another, like
when you come out of a
dark, covered alley, which
is more of the buildings.
Thank you, have a great day, man.
You get into more of an area that's
open, getting in the natural
light and natural air,
and then again you step
under a covered alleyway.
(woman and child speak in Arabic)
(man speaking quietly in Arabic)
- It's so, it's so soft.
(man laughs)
(speaks, muffled by Turkish Delight)
- [Man Offscreen] I think
that's the third time
someone's feeding you today.
(group laughs)
- The third time someone's
feeding me today,
I think that's right.
That one's like a sweet,
and you can taste that, like,
that's the Arabic gum
that's like sap, it's good.
It has almost like an herb taste to it,
like almost Sage, Rosemary flavor to it.
- [Man Offscreen] It's so hot,
fishing for clients like us.
(both laugh)
- [Mark] Looking for us!
- [Man Offscreen] And
you know what this needs?
(humming in approval)
- It's fresh, you can feel
the zest of the lemons inside.
Yeah, try it, please.
- Thank you, a sip of the lemonade.
(woman speaking in Arabic)
It is pretty good, yeah,
for a random lemonade
that just passed by, it's very good.
C'mon, kid, try it.
(woman coaxes child in Arabic)
C'mon, kid, try it.
(child disapproves of drink in Arabic)
(deep, electronic bass music)
This is an amazing passageway,
and what's amazing also about Sidon
is the mix of Christianity, Islam,
and the religions all coexisting.
I mean, from ancient times until today,
within this tight corridor,
within this ancient town,
is that we're going to a palace next,
the Red Roofed Palace.
We got tickets to the palace,
we're gonna climb this staircase going up.
(vibrant electronic music)
The palace was built in
1721 by a man from Morocco,
right in the heart of
the old city of Sidon
and it's still owned and
operated by a Lebanese family.
(woman gives a tour)
The mansion was abandoned for a long time
during one of the civil
wars, and then it was
reoccupied, renovated, still
now by a Lebanese family.
Just in the year 2000, actually.
(calm electronic piano music)
This is a living room,
relax room, and then
one of the main highlights of this room
is the ceiling made from cedar wood.
Wow, look at that detail.
Just walking through the
center of this mansion now,
it really, truly is a
masterpiece of architecture
and design, and preservation.
Staircase is getting more and more narrow.
It's one of those places where
there's just room after room,
you don't even know how
many rooms there are.
Keep coming (gently pants), cool.
Up to the top with a view
over the city, amazing.
(traffic hums, man calls in Arabic)
(men talking)
That was kind of a dense,
dark, clothing alley down there
that we just came out of,
I think maybe the power
went out, that's why it's so dark.
Right where we started in the morning.
That was just a, that
wasn't even a big circle,
it was just a little circle,
oh, I can smell that, I can
smell it, they're coming!
(clamoring conversation in Arabic)
Lots of vegetables, look at that thing.
- [Man Offscreen] So, Abou Rami says that
people from Jordan come
here to (muffled by cooks)
- 67 years of falafel
making, and those are like
some of the biggest
falafels, they're like,
and they're rounder,
they're big, big falafels.
(jug hits the table)
- I'm still telling you,
Mark, this is gonna be
one of the best falafel
sandwiches that you've ever had.
(fierce sizzling)
(small plops)
- These guys are the falafel
kings of Lebanon, man.
Kamel just asked him as
he's making the falafel,
"How do you keep track of
which ones went in first?"
Y'know, so you can keep track
of which ones have been cooking longer.
And he just kinda smirked
at Kamel and he was like,
"Son, I've been making this for 40 years,
"don't ask me a question like that."
Oh man, the aroma's coming out here.
That is just a jacuzzi of bubbling oil.
And those falafels, the aromas
coming out of this window,
watching him, it's just insane.
We have to try it. (chuckles)
I cannot wait any longer.
(oil bubbles and trickles)
(men converse in Arabic)
(man speaking loudly in Arabic)
(car honks)
(man continues speaking in Arabic)
- Now that is the way to
make a falafel sandwich,
man, he just is so generous
with the vegetables,
he chucks on like a
whole handful of cilantro
and a part of the coriander.
He adds on the pickles,
he just with double fists,
he double fists the
tomatoes to put them on.
And my favorite part is when he
from a jug, from a pitcher,
he pours on the Tahini,
it's like a painting splatter
and that cross section is just,
it looks like a burger,
it looks like a burger.
(laughs)
(paper scrunches)
(knife cuts and tears through paper)
(cook presents food in Arabic)
- Wow!
- [Man Offscreen#] That is the falafel.
- Okay, we have the sandwiches
that we already got,
but then we also asked for
some falafel a la Sidon.
Abou Rami, he hooked up an entire plate,
pickles with all the salad.
He's very generous with his
salad here, the vegetables.
And then just drenched it all in Tahini.
We just need some chili
sauce, and here it comes.
- [Fadi] Here it comes!
- Yes, we are ready, and
we're gonna try the. (laughs)
We're gonna try just the falafel.
We're gonna try just
the falafel on its own
before the sandwich.
I'm just going pure falafel
before everything, though.
- [Man Offscreen] Okay,
your falafel it is.
- Just a little bit of.
(all say "cheers")
That, that is a falafel, yeah.
It's perfectly fluffy. (hums)
- [Man Offscreen] Meaty.
- You taste that All Spice,
Cardamon-y almost, in there.
Thank you, oh, wonderful, look at
that falafel bite.
(car honks)
Oh, beautiful.
(Mark exclaims with a full mouth)
- [Man Offscreen] Michael, right?
That is superb.
- [Fadi] That is superb.
- With the pickle, with
the chili, just. (hums)
Crunchy goodness, herbaceous, just,
67 years of experience in one falafel.
This is a monster falafel sandwich,
I love the way he makes
it, just throwing on things
and just splattering it in Tahini.
But that, he wraps it in
such a way that the falafel
around 180 degrees around
your entire sandwich,
and that cross section is beautiful.
Probably the most
beautiful falafel sandwich
I've ever seen or held in my hand before.
(hums in approval)
Just one thing that would make it better.
A chili reduce.
Yes!
That is needed.
(child pleads to woman)
(Mark speaks, muffled with a full mouth)
- Go for another bite.
- At the middle, they're
just falling off the side.
- [Man Offscreen] Yeah, go!
Uh-huh, you got it.
- That combination.
And the parsley (hums in approval)
The Tahini, in fact, I
need to re-dip, actually.
(traffic blares)
That is what you call a
reducing of the falafel,
it's been reduced.
First, I wanna say a
huge thank you to USAID,
US A-I-D for funding my trip to Lebanon
and for handling the logistics
and I wanna say a big
thank you to Maia for
organizing a lot of this
trip, my trip to Lebanon
which has been spectacular.
Thank you also to Ramil
who showed us around Sidon,
as well as Kamel who's from Sidon
and his family is from here,
what a good day with friends,
with Fadi, hanging out, eating, exploring
this ancient, a city with so much history,
so much culture, so much amazing food.
And finally, I want to
say a big thank you to you
for watching this video,
please remember to give it
a thumbs up if you enjoyed
it, leave a comment below,
I'd love to hear from you,
and if you're not already
subscribed, click the subscribe button.
Also, there's a little bell
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so you get notified of the future videos
that I publish on the spot, on time.
Thanks again for watching, and see you.
Oh, sorry, oh, Zaid! (car honks)
(laughs) He's here!
Ziad!
- Hi, how are you doing?
- Best driver in Lebanon.
Thanks again for watching,
see you on the next video.
(laughs) What a day!
