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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
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WOW!!! Great recipe. Fava’s are the best.
Glad you like it!
Clifford, Why can’t I save this to FB where I share recipes with my friends?
I’m not sure. It works for me. Use the little FB tag on the left side of your screen.
Thanks Clifford. The only thing that shows up is a “like” button…no way to direct a post to a specific FB page.
Very curious. On my page there’s a little blue box above the thumbs up box with an “f” which is how you post to FB.