Mama's Fool

Growing up, Sunday mornings at mum and dad’s was always a foodie’s paradise, and we didn’t even know it. Long before blogging and MasterChef, ethnic kids (like me) would turn their noses up and complain about the weird and wonderful foods of their motherland. When it comes to this dish, I must confess – this was me. I think I only pretended to dislike it because I wasn’t mature enough to appreciate the strength of raw garlic in food, but that soon changed.

Now that I’m looking back, I think mum knew exactly what she was doing, loading up her teenage daughters on raw garlic and sending them off into a big wide world of cute pubescent boys.

Well played, mum.

PS. It’s vegan and without the pita, gluten free too.

Foul Medammas

1 tin of Cortas brand fava beans

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup finely diced tomatoes

2/3 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley

3 cloves of garlic

1/2  teaspoon of salt

A generous drizzle of olive oil to finish

Fresh pita bread to serve

In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic with the salt to a creamy pulp. Add the fresh lemon juice and olive oil, set aside.

Empty the beans into a strainer and rinse the brine off with cold running water.

Place the strained beans into a small pot with 2 cups of cold water, and bring to a gentle boil

Once the pot has come to a gentle boil, strain the beans and place into a serving dish.  With a fork, roughly mash half of the beans, leaving half of them whole and fold together.

Briskly mix the oil, lemon and garlic mixture and pour over the warm beans. Garnish with the chopped parsley and tomato. Finish with a generous drizzle of olive oil and serve with warm Lebanese or pita bread. Amazing with olives, and labne!

Serves 2 hungry brunchers

Photography by Shayben Moussa @shaybenmoussa