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Google Doodle today: Celebrating the origins of Falafel
TODAY’S Google Doodle celebrates the origin of delicious, crispy balls of fried plant protein – also known as Falafel. But what exactly is falafel and is it healthy to eat? Here’s the lowdown on the popular treat… What are falafel? Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the origins of the popular dish. Falafel is a deep-fried ball, […]
TODAY’S Google Doodle celebrates the origin of delicious, crispy balls of fried plant protein – also known as Falafel.
But what exactly is falafel and is it healthy to eat? Here’s the lowdown on the popular treat…
What are falafel?
Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the origins of the popular dish.
Falafel is a deep-fried ball, or a flat or doughnut-shaped patty, made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both.
Herbs, spices, and onion relatives are commonly added to the dough.
The falafel balls are stuffed in a pita or wrapped in a flatbread and topped with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, pickled vegetables, hot sauce and tahini sauce.
They are a great source of protein, nutrients and fibre.
There are a number of health benefits associated with high fibre foods – they help lower blood lipid levels such as cholesterol, reducing risks of heart diseases, as well as lowering your risk of colon cancer.
Falafel are packed with a number of key nutrients including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, Vitamin C, Vitamin B and folate.
Where did they originate from?
The origin of Falafel is very controversial and many countries have gone head-to-head in claiming credit for the recipe.
The most popular theory suggests the dish was invented in Egypt about 1000 years ago by Egyptians.
As Alexandria is a port city, it was possible to export the dish and name to other areas in the Middle East.
India produces the vast majority of the world’s chickpea crop, which currently is in high season.
In Egypt, fava beans are ground to make these delicious, crispy balls of fried plant protein, known in Egypt as “ta’amiya.”
Israel has a song to celebrate the food, called “And We Have Falafel”.
The world’s largest falafel, weighing 164.8 pounds and reaching a height of 59.8in, was fried for 25 minutes at the Landmark Hotel in Amman, Jordan.
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What is a Google Doodle?
In 1998, the search engine founders Larry and Sergey drew a stick figure behind the second ‘o’ of Google as a message that they were out of office at the Burning Man festival and with that, Google Doodles were born.
The company decided that they should decorate the logo to mark cultural moments and it soon became clear that users really enjoyed the change to the Google homepage.
In that same year, a turkey was added to Thanksgiving and two pumpkins appeared as the ‘o’s for Halloween the following year.
Now, there is a full team of doodlers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and classically trained artists who help create what you see on those days.
Google kicked off 2019 with an animated Doodle of New Year’s Eve celebrations.
On February 5, 2019, the Chinese New Year was celebrated with a hand animation transforming into a pig.
St Patrick’s Day on March 17 was remembered with a Celtic Google Doodle.
And on March 21, Google Doodle used AI for the first time in a tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach.
The Doodle allowed users to create their own tune.
