Everyone who lives or lived in the Middle East before, particularly in Egypt, knows about fuul (فول). It is a very popular dish made of fava beans and various spices, and it is served mainly for breakfast. It is very easy to obtain if you live in the Middle East because almost all neighbourhoods will have their local fuul shop or restaurant. You can buy the fuul plain or with spices and ready to eat. You can even have it in ready made sandwiches.
Sometimes, you find a small cart going round your neighbourhood selling fuul to people in their houses or offering fuul and bread to workers on their way to work. I think that fuul originated in Egypt, but it is common in all Arab countries because it is an affordable, delicious and nutritious meal. It is easy to obtain in the West, as it is sold in cans. You can also get it plain or spiced. Here is an old advertisement of fuul Rita.
Plain fuul is basically boiled fava beans. People have different tastes and different ways of adding spices to it. The simplest way of eating it is to add salt and oil to it. You can add other spices as you wish to the basic combination of oil and salt, e.g. cumin, black peppers, chili, garlic, etc. The best thing is to try different combinations until you reach your best. Here is one recipe from a TV program.
My favourite fuul has salt, oil, cumin, a little bit of garlic, lemon and sliced fresh tomatoes. There is a very nice song about the fuul by Nilly and Iman AlBahr Darwish. It shows the setting at a fuul restaurant.
Comments:
barkerman:
Wow they sure want their fuul.