Holy Cross Church Middle Eastern Food Festival

I had the privilege of attending the Middle Eastern Food Festival at Holy Cross Church and the eats were to die for. Luckily I’ve been able to try a handful of Middle Eastern foods like shawarma, tabouli and falafel. The flavors are strong and with each item will seem to hit a new spot on your palate. At the festival, all the food was being made to order on site, so the freshness of all the yum-yums made the experience a great one.  I just want to invent a mini shawarma rotisserie and keep it my trunk. Keep reading to see the pics!

Good man working hard to make us a shawarma. Shawarma is a classic sandwich made with shaved meats. It’s served on pita bread and typically accompanied by hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers and tahini sesame seed sauce. I think this one got a helping of pickled beets, those little red strips he is reaching for. It adds a nice crunch!

This is that rotisserie I want to own. Pull that sucka outta the trunk during lunch hour. You will be the coolest kid at school.

This is called Lokma. It’s a fried sweet dough and covered in simple syrup. We got them fried to order in this huge vat of oil. Then the good people sprinkled it with cinnamon and doused it with crushed peanuts. We were fighting over this shit.

Really. Straight fighting. Savages.

BBQ Chicken Kabob plate. Served with salad, rice and tomato and green bean casserole.

Freshly grilled bread stuffed with Za’atar, a mixture or herbs and spices like oregano, marjoram, thyme and toasted sesame seeds. It was grilled by the lovely ladies and fella pictured below. Hand shaped and everything.

Falalel, a fried patty made from spiced fava beans and chickpeas. Many agree that dish iconic dish was invented by the Ancient Egyptians before making its way all over the Middle East.

Here is the falafel plate I got, complete with garlic sauce, hummus, hot chile sauce, lots of pita bread and a medley of pickled vegetables.

Ibanez Frutas Frescas. Dude came through from Los Angeles to provide the festival with fresh fruit. We took this picture way earlier in the day and after it got dark I tried his product for myself. Basically you give the man 4 bucks and he gives you a crop of fresh fruit. I got watermelon, pineapple and coconut, but you also get mango, honeydew and strawberries, even topped with cottage cheese and almonds. I got mine with lemon juice and chile. Good stuff.