Ful Medames with Chickpeas

My first brush with Ful Medames came after reading about it in Paula Wolfert’s classic book, The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean.  Here’s how she described it:

“The rich eat ful for breakfast, the poor eat ful for lunch, but only animals eat ful for dinner. So goes the Egyptian proverb. Ful, pronounced ‘fool,’ is made from dried fava beans and is the national dish of Egypt. In Syria and Lebanon, it is eaten as a soupy mass for breakfast, along with glossy black olives, cucumbers, and plenty of pita.”

I was hooked after reading that description, so I developed

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My first brush with Ful Medames came after reading about it in Paula Wolfert’s classic book, The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean.  Here’s how she described it:

“The rich eat ful for breakfast, the poor eat ful for lunch, but only animals eat ful for dinner. So goes the Egyptian proverb. Ful, pronounced ‘fool,’ is made from dried fava beans and is the national dish of Egypt. In Syria and Lebanon, it is eaten as a soupy mass for breakfast, along with glossy black olives, cucumbers, and plenty of pita.”

I was hooked after reading that description, so I developed my own version that I like to enjoy for breakfast, brunch, or a late lunch. I choose to incorporate cooked chickpeas for added texture and nuttiness. I normally top my ful with chopped rocket (arugula), sliced green onions, and brined red onions. For an added Mediterranean punch, I include whole olives and chopped tomatoes.

Both canned and dried fava beans can be used to make this recipe. Canned beans are a simple solution to make a quick and tasty version. Cooking dried beans is much more time consuming, but the flavor is also deeper, more complex, and satisfying. I offer instructions for cooking dried fava beans in the tips below.

Difficulty: simple to moderate
Yield: makes about 4-6 servings