After I gained the courage to break away from the safety of the familiar, the first Arabic style dish I went for was this one – foul medames or fava bean dip. This dip is a staple food in Egypt and very popular in other Arab, Middle Eastern and African countries. The style of cooking this dish varies from culture to culture and cook to cook. The foundation of the dip, which the alterations work around, however, is the boiled and mashed fava bean (also called the broad bean). Traditionally, the recipe includes or is served with the likes of olive oil, onions, tomatoes, lemon juice, chilli and cumin.
My recreation of the recipe.
During the month of Ramadan, as mentioned, I am particularly inspired to try dishes that are eaten by the Muslim community here in the Middle East. This dish was a must and I had a look around for the best of the best which I found in the form of this recipe by Maie from The Wizard of Yum on Instagram. Maie’s blog is a very pleasant, homely, Arabic food haven where the inexperienced (like me) toward Arabic dishes should go for some useful knowledge.
Maie writes her posts through both Arabic and English, so understanding the recipe instructions is not a problem. I am in awe of her photography skills as well, which is definitely a must for me to even think about recreating a dish. I also enjoy reading about the inspiration behind Maie’s recipes – for example, this particular one made her nostalgic towards her dad as it was one of his favorite things to eat, which I thought was very sweet to hear about.
You can view the full recipe instructions below, and I also want to include some recipes that are definitely next on my list! Thank you Maie – Ramadan Kareem!
The Food Anatomist 