I don't blame older people for avoiding smaller variety / varieties, though, and calling it animal food. The post WW2 trauma is still present among generations born just before, during the war or shortly thereafter and due to food shortages people ate whatever they could and many of them pass down that trauma onto next generations. For the same reason the rutabaga aka swede aka Swedish turnip is still considered animal food here and many people literally shudder when someone mentions wanting to eat it. 😅 Meanwhile swede makes perfect mash, alone or with potatoes, is as filling as them and has this delicious taste of cruciferous vegetables, it’s as if I put cooked broccoli or cabbage into potato mash. Growing up, my family often had little meals of falafel and foul (short for foul mudammas) dinners. It's about time, this Egyptian girl tells you a bit about a childhood favorite. What is foul mudammas? Interesting thing, there are more types of broad beans, in my country typical are broad beans with big seeds. The variety with small seeds like on your picture is considered horse bean / field bean and is used either as cover crop or its seeds are harvested to feed animals. When I saw them as kid / teen on the fields, I always eyed them, wondering, whether they'd be edible or not, but when I asked people, they always said it's only for animal consumption, not for humans. This variety has smaller seeds, probably making harvesting harder, but it also always seemed more immune to diseases and pests, so I assumed it's more ancient / wild variety. 🤔

Foul mudammas is a meal on its own, so you certainly don't need to add much else. But, you can turn it into a big Middle Eastern vegan feast by adding falafel and sides like tahini sauce (which you can easily drizzle on top); hummus; or baba ganoush! I love adding a good bunch of fresh parsley and some diced tomatoes on top. Some people like adding chopped onions, but I prefer to serve green onions on the side. But the bold flavors in this simple fava bean stew come from a spicy sauce made with crushed garlic, chili peppers and fresh lemon juice. You can call it foul for short! Foul mudammas is best served with warm pita bread. You can add sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh green onions and olives to go along. Pour the spicy sauce over the fava beans and stir. Add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (I used Early Harvest Greek extra virgin olive oil)

Beans are a great source of fiber, protein, fiber, iron, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium and many other beneficial nutrients. If you have never tried fresh fava beans, they’re really special– they have a mild, creamy flavor that compliments many spring dishes. Fresh from the pod they are bright green and very pretty. They have a short season, though. If you’re looking at making a fresh fava bean recipe outside of spring, your best bet is to use frozen fava beans or use fresh/frozen lima beans as a substitute. Lima beans are not the same as fava beans, but they are similar to fresh peeled and cooked fava beans. Foul mudammas is basically stewed fava beans (or broad beans), typically seasoned with a little ground cumin and finished with good extra virgin olive oil. Egyptians serve with warm pita bread and jazz it up with lemon juice, fresh veggies and herbs.

You can refrigerate foul mudammas (that's been seasoned and jazzed up with fresh toppings) in a tight-lid glass container for about 2 days (maybe 3 at most). Bring to room temperature and enjoy with pita bread.Starting with canned or already cooked fava beans, there are three simple steps to make fava beans: warm up the beans and smash them, add flavor, top with fresh veggies. 1. Heat, mash and season fava beans For this recipe, you'll need to use canned or already cooked fava beans. I am using canned fava beans here for a short cut (2 cans of fava beans or 3 cups).