Fava In A Moroccan Way

For fava devotees we are about to see those inviting fava bean pods appearing at our farmers markets. A delightful way to prepare the fresh fava beans is a way found in Morocco. In Morocco, this purée is served as a meze and called rafissa al-fūl or rafissa “de fèves fraîches” and can be served as a dip for warm or deep-fried pieces of flatbread. A rafis is an interesting dish with a history. We have a record of a Tunisian sheik of Qairouan (then the capital city of what is today Tunisia) in the fourteenth century who once a year shared a rafis, a dish made of wheat flour, dates, honey, butter, and other ingredients, in a celebration with the students of his zawiyya, a hospice and theological school. A recipe preserved from the fifteenth century tells us how to make rafis: “take pieces of bread smaller than an olive and mix with dates and honey until it looks like it will break apart. Work the mixture for a long time with the hands not over a fire until you get a rafis.” But this rafissa is nothing of the kind; it is a purée of fava.

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Fava Bean Puree
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serve with black olives, fried flatbread chips or breadsticks, chopped tomatoes, and radishes. Serve as part of a meze.
Author:
Recipe type: Vegetable
Cuisine: Moroccan
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds fresh fava beans in their pods, shelled
  • 2 garlic cloves, mashed in a mortar with 1 teaspoon salt until mushy
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground cumin seeds
Instructions
  1. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil over high heat then cook the fava beans for 10 minutes. Drain, then pinch off the peel and place the beans in a food processor with the garlic paste. With the machine running, pour the olive oil in through the feed tube. Stop for a moment and add the paprika and cumin. Continue running the processor until the beans are smooth.
  2. Spread the purée on a flat, round platter and serve with portions of pita bread. You can garnish the platter with black olives and small pieces of chopped tomatoes.

 

Comments

  1. David E Richey says

    WOW!!! Great recipe. Fava’s are the best.

  2. David E Richey says

    Clifford, Why can’t I save this to FB where I share recipes with my friends?

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