African and Middle Eastern Food and Cooking

Now Open: Big Al's Halal Pizzeria in Maywood

Some say that L.A. is having it's pizza moment. Big Al's Halal Pizzeria entered the pizza fray on Saturday, Feb. 2 with a grand opening block party. Although, you might ask,"What exactly is halal pizza?" The second question you may ask is "Why halal pizza and in Maywood of all places?"

10 Best Halal Dishes in Los Angeles

Los Angeles can, yet again, boast about having the most variety, if not depth, of something. Home to the most diverse Muslim population in the United States, Los Angeles County is full of halal restaurants. Halal means permitted or lawful according to Sharia (Islamic) laws. In the realm of dining ou ... More >>

Al Amir: Lebanese Cuisine in Valley Village

Farid Zadi's Couscousfest Returns: Oktoberfest North African Stoner Food

Oktoberfest doesn't just mean sausage and sauerkraut -- at least not when Farid Zadi busts out his tagine this weekend. On Sept. 22 and 23, the French-Algerian chef and owner of the recently opened Spanish Fly Gastropub in Koreatown brings back his Couscousfest for a third year. Larger in scope than ... More >>

At Mezze, Chef Micah Wexler Nails a Menu of Creative, Middle Eastern-Inspired Dishes

Joe's Falafel: Laffa Now, Smile Later

When fresh from the oven, the variety of Israeli flatbread known as laffa is delicious enough to inspire fever dreams: a stretchable, oval-shaped length of unleavened bread -- not dissimilar to a good Indian naan -- pulled just thick enough to form a kind of textural duality between its soft chewy i ... More >>

A Recipe For Spinach Salad with Grilled Shrimp and Peppers What Are Mini Peppers Anyway

At first I was skeptical of the colorful mini peppers packaged in the clamshell at the grocery store. I can be wary of produce not sold from crates at farmers markets, and these glossy, firm, petite yellow, red and orange babies looked just too plastic-perfect and remarkably un-heirloom to be any go ... More >>

'The Avengers' Shawarma Bump Where to Feed Your Craving

Remember that scene in E.T. with the Reese's Pieces? It reportedly boosted sales of the candy so high in 1982 that the Hershey corporation was forced to keep a factory open minting the candies 24/7. The moral of the story? Feature a food in a popular movie and people with not-so-subliminally find th ... More >>

Jewish Iraqi Food: Yes, But in Los Angeles?

Dear Mr. Gold: My parents are coming to visit soon and I was hoping to do them proud by finding some authentic Iraqi cuisine akin to what my Baghdad-born father grew up eating just outside of Tel Aviv. His mother has stuffed us many a visit with things like sambusak, the sabich, kubeh, bamia and the ... More >>

Eat, and Learn to Make, Couscous and Tagines at Cafe Livre

Barbara HansenA combo tagine with lamb and vegetables​Now you taste it, now you don't. That's what happens to the tagines that come with couscous at Café Livre in Culver City. The seasonings change as often as executive chef Farid Zadi gets a new idea, usually every week. The other day the b ... More >>

Where To Go For L.A.'s Version Of NYC Halal Carts

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​Dear Mr. Gold: New York City has the legendary halal carts at 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue. Please tell me Los Angeles has something similar. --Joseph Saranglo, via Facebook

The Kosher Corridor

A restaurant renaissance in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood

Top 5 Places to Eat in the Kosher Corridor

Guzzle & Nosh​Pico Boulevard has its share of intriguing restaurants, and the "Kosher Corridor," from Beverly Drive on the west to La Cienega on the east, is no exception. Although this neighborhood has long been home to one of the largest Orthodox Jewish populations in the city, for years, ko ... More >>

Cookbook Of The Week: Paula Wolfert's The Food of Morocco, Now That's A Cookbook

There are a handful of cookbook authors -- Diana Kennedy (hyper local Mexican cuisine), Maida Heatter (home baking), Paula Wolfert (Moroccan cuisine) -- whose personal obsession not only with cooking, but truly with a culinary culture, is so focused, so resolute, that when they finally release anoth ... More >>

Couscous Festival 2011: Start Your Couscouseries

It's time to get out your couscouserie again. Or rather, time to let Farid Zadi get out his. Zadi and his wife and business partner Susan Park are hosting their second annual Couscous Festival, Sunday October 23 from noon to 6 p.m. Last year's festival, you may recall, took place in Pasadena, comple ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Mezze

Q & A With Yvonne & Nancy Boules: Going from Home to Restaurant Kitchen, Egyptian Fava Bean Falafel The Beauty of Bulgarian Feta

K. RobbinsYvonne and Nancy Boules trying a new recipe for Egyptian accented beignets​ Om Ali is one of Yvonne Boules' signature dishes at Café Dahab, the Egyptian focused Mediterranean restaurant that she runs with her daughter Nancy. Puff pastry, hazelnuts, and coconut are layered in a bless ... More >>

Duck Shawarma at Momed in Beverly Hills

What Cacao Mexicatessen did for fowl with its duck carnitas, Momed is now doing with its duck shawarma: Melding an uncommon choice of meat with classic cooking technique to create an innovative hybrid you'll rarely find, at least in Los Angeles. Momed, Alex Sarkissian's airy, Beverly Hills ea ... More >>

For Prop 19 Fans: 5 Best L.A. Leftovers to Dip in Hummus

California Grill's loroco pupusa dipped in hummus​ Perhaps it's not a discovery worthy of the Harvard Kitchen Lab, but just in time for the possible passage of Proposition 19, there's been a recent breakthrough in late night snacking -- extensive research shows that most restaurant leftovers ... More >>

Lebanon vs. Israel: World Record Set For Bowl Of Hummus

CNNworld record hummus​ It seems as if Lebanon and Israel have moved the battlefield to the kitchen. This past Saturday Lebanon set the world record for the largest bowl of hummus in the village of al-Fanar, near Beirut, surpassing the previous record set four months ago by Israel in the Arab ... More >>

Couscous Festival Comes to Pasadena: Paula Wolfert Will Make You Couscous

Farid Zadithe stages of couscous​ Do you know what you're doing Saturday, October 16th? Well, you do now -- or at least you should, if you're anywhere near Pasadena on that day and have any interest in Middle Eastern cooking whatsoever. Yes, we know five months is long advance notice, but it' ... More >>

Middle Culver: Mezza, After Mosque or Movie

Sunnin: Westwood's Middle East

New digs and a new vibe at lebanese cafe

Far From the Lebanese Crowd

Mantee, via Beirut, on Ventura Boulevard

Photo Gallery: Far From the Lebanese Crowd at Mantee

Need a visual aid for your print edition? Jonathan Gold visits Mantee Café in Studio City ("Mantee isn't where you come for a falafel plate or roasted chicken; it's where you go to watch a stunningly beautiful waitress set a plate of sausage aflame"). Click through for Anne Fishbein's spectacular p ... More >>

Squid Ink Food Fight: Falafel Off (Say That Ten Times Fast)

The falafel is one of those foods that has migrated a long distance across multiple countries, spawning many variations, preferences and preparations. Some falafel are made from fava (though far less commonly in the U.S.) and some from chickpeas. They can be filled with different herbs, or onions de ... More >>

Zahle in the Valley: The Middle-Eastern Polish of Alcazar Express

Fresh Sounds

At Nigerian Eatery Saaris, America Is Turning to Fufu!

Dunkin' dough

Where to Eat Now: New to the List

Garbanzos!

Hummus Bar finds beauty in the humble chickpea

Waiting for Shwarma

Little Armenia’s Arax Falafel

Flavor Zone

Baran in Westwood

Curry Invasion

I Am Arak

Glendale and Vicinity

Ask Mr. Gold

Middle Eastern

Among the Believers

Drive, He Said

Counter Intelligence throws a party — or 10 tips for no-cook entertaining

Cinnamon, Cloves and Cardamom

The biryanis of Hyderabad

Keba-ba-ba-bin Along

Lebanese food in Sherman Oaks

The Matter at Hand

In some of our favorite parts of the world, everything is finger food, from steaming gobs of rice to whole fried carp.

The Matter at Hand

In some of our favorite parts of the world, everything is finger food, from steaming gobs of rice to whole fried carp

Fava Knows Best

Lebanese bean stew in Pasadena

Flavors of the Near East

As in Lebanon, Armenia, Alhambra . . .

The Falafel Truth

A fine Westside sandwich

Hand Jobs

Let your fingers do the walking.

The Cuisine That Came In From the Cold

So where do you send a nostalgic CIA agent for a taste of the old days?

Yemenite Delight