Nancy's Falafel Pistachios

Before I left for my trip to Israel with Steven, I had a meeting with the California Pistachio Board. They were planning a lunch at my restaurant Chi Spacca to showcase recipes I was developing that highlighted pistachios. I told them I would soon be on my way to Israel and would return with at least one Israeli recipe to add to the mix because I knew that the pistachio was the peanut of not only Israel but the entire Middle East. Indeed, pistachios were sold at nearly every market I visited in Israel and were widely deployed—and enjoyed—in many dishes. This particular recipe was inspired by the falafel I ate at the wonderful Arab market in Akko. It was so striking that after asking the falafel man what spices were involved, I went to the spice guy at the same market and requested that he recreate the blend. I was a bit concerned that he would not be able to duplicate the mix. But it turned out that my request was not unique. He quickly began grinding away as if he had done this a thousand times. My request was merely the one thousand first.