![]() (There’s a long, and most peculiar essay to be found online wondering whatever became of Father Nature, and suggesting he be brought back. It is, not surprisingly, the central ingredient in many, if not most of the dishes, at Father Nature Lavash Bistro - a name that certainly comes as a surprise, since we mostly speak of Mother Nature. Traditionally, it’s made in a tandoor like oven. Like pita, it’s a soft, thin, unleavened flatbread. De Lacey Ave., Pasadena 62, Lavash is a ubiquity throughout the Middle East, perhaps not as common as pita, but still pretty much everywhere - especially as you get closer to the Caspian Sea, into Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. It’s fun to watch as different dishes pass through the many cultural filters in the region, as stuffed grape leaves, and things made with garbanzo beans, change sometimes subtly, and sometimes radically as they cross national and linguistic borderlines.ġ7 N. Though there is a smattering of restaurants representative of the other parts of the Arabic world, the chances are that when you eat in a Middle Eastern restaurant here in Los Angeles, the dishes will be either Lebanese or Armenian and since the differences between the two styles of cooking may not be all that evident, they may seem, functionally, like the same cuisine.Īfter the foods of the Far East (the variety of which is, for all due purposes, virtually endless), my favorite culinary region is the Middle East. ![]() While New York’s Arabic community is dominated by Syrians and Lebanese, judging from the restaurants here in Los Angeles (restaurants are always a good barometer of population’s distribution) the community is made up mostly of Lebanese and Armenians. They were followed in due time by a steady trickle of Palestinians, Egyptians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Yemenis and Arabic-speaking Armenians from Lebanon. After World War II, economic problems in Lebanon brought a second great wave of Syrians and Lebanese. The first real wave of Arab immigration didn’t come until the 1890s, when many Syrians, fleeing the Ottoman Empire, arrived first in New York, and then fanned out across America. It is not easy to trace the roots of the Arabic community in Los Angeles, though it would seem fairly certain that our local Middle Eastern populace followed fairly close upon the heels of the Arabic migration into New York City.Īccording to Zelda Stern’s excellent volume, “The Complete Guide to Ethnic New York,” New York’s Arab community goes back to the 1870s, to the man known as the “Syrian Columbus.” His name was Moses David, and he’s believed to be the first Arab settler in New York and perhaps in the whole United States.
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