· 2 min read

Meorav Yerushalmi b'Lafa (מעורב ירושלמי בלאפה)

Jerusalem mixed grill in laffa.

Meorav Yerushalmi b'Lafa (מעורב ירושלמי בלאפה) is the Jerusalem mixed grill rolled into laffa rather than stuffed into pita, and the bread choice changes the sandwich enough to be its own order. The angle is the wrap. Laffa is a large, thin, pliable flatbread, and rolling the meorav in it gives a long cylinder where the filling is distributed in a thinner band along the whole length instead of pooled in a pocket. That means more bread-to-filling contact, a softer overall bite, and a build that can take a heavier dressing without splitting, because the laffa wraps the whole thing rather than holding it in an open seam.

The build is the standard mixed grill, treated for the wrap. Chicken hearts, livers, spleens, and trimmings, sometimes with breast, are chopped small and cooked hard on a hot flat-top with sliced onion and the Jerusalem spice set of cumin, turmeric, black pepper, coriander, and baharat until soft, dark, and just cooked through. The laffa is laid out flat, warmed so it stays supple and does not crack when rolled, and dressed across its face before the meat goes on: tahini spread wide, chopped salad, pickles, raw onion, sometimes hummus or amba, and s'chug for heat. The hot grill goes down in a line, the bread is folded at the ends and rolled tight, and the result is a sealed tube eaten from one end. Done right the laffa is warm and elastic so it rolls without tearing, the filling is spread evenly so every section of the roll has meat rather than a loaded middle and bare ends, and the tahini and salad are distributed across the face so they reach the whole length. Done wrong the laffa is dry and cracks at the fold so the filling escapes, the meat is bunched in the center, or the roll is so overstuffed it cannot close and the dressing runs out the bottom as it is eaten.

It is served as a tight rolled cylinder, eaten by hand from one end, often in paper to hold it together. It varies first by how heavily it is dressed, the wrap tolerating more tahini, salad, and pickle than a pita does, and second by the offal-to-breast ratio and the heat the eater calls for. The same grill in pita is a distinct order with a different balance of bread to filling, as is a spicier build, and each deserves its own treatment rather than a line here. They all return to the same idea: a hot, heavily spiced offal-and-onion filling, here spread thin and rolled tight in a large supple flatbread that wraps it whole.

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