Falafel sandwiches are usually spiked with a thin, creamy tahini sauce, but if you’re lucky, zhoug will accompany the tahini dressing.  The bright green, intensely hot sauce originally hails from Yemen, but it is popular all over the Middle East.  A blend of cilantro, parsley, fresh, hot green chiles (like jalapenos), cumin, cardamom, sugar, salt, garlic, and olive oil, it is easy to make in a food processor.  Zhoug adds a punch that perks up fried foods and wakes up starchy flavors.  Try it and you may end up like me:  slathering zhoug on everything from french fries and falafel to toast.

I certainly can’t improve on Yotam Ottolenghi’s excellent zhoug recipe, so I link to it here.