Ful Medames with Boiled Eggs, Tahini and Toasted Pita

La storia di questo piatto

Ful medames is the old breakfast of Egypt, rooted in the ancient Nile land and carried across the Middle East, North Africa, Sudan and the Horn of Africa. This bowl is its Levantine reading: split fava beans, bright lemon, garlic and cumin, crowned with egg and a ribbon of tahini.

Ingredienti

• 300 g Peeled dried fava beans
• 1200 ml Water for soaking
• 1000 ml Water for cooking the fava beans
• 4 piece Eggs
• 3 clove Garlic
• 2 teaspoon Ground cumin
• 60 ml Lemon juice
• 60 ml Extra virgin olive oil
• 6 g Fine salt
• 2 piece Ripe tomatoes
• 1/2 bunch Parsley
• 4 piece Pita bread
• 80 g Tahini (sesame paste)
• 60 ml Cold water for the tahini sauce
• 1 pinch Red pepper flakes
• 1000 ml Water for the eggs

Preparazione

1. The day before, place the peeled fava beans in a large bowl with the 1200 ml of cold water: they must be covered by at least three fingers, as they swell considerably. Leave them to soak overnight, 8-10 hours, at room temperature; it is passive time, you need do nothing. In the morning they will look plumper, with slightly smooth, taut skins. Drain and rinse under running water until it runs clear, so any residue is removed and the flavour stays clean.
2. Place the fava beans in a heavy-bottomed pot with 1000 ml of cold water, without salt and without lemon: salt and acid added early would toughen the skins and the beans would never soften. Bring to a boil over medium heat, skim off the greyish foam that rises to the surface with a ladle, then reduce to the lowest heat. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook very gently, with just a slow simmer, for 45-75 minutes: peeled soaked fava beans cook quickly, so check tenderness already after 45 minutes. They are ready when a bean crushes without resistance between two fingers and the liquid has turned cloudy and velvety; do not push further, or they will break down into purée and you will not keep a third of whole beans. If the water reduces too much, add a ladleful of hot water, never cold, so the cooking does not stop.
3. While the fava beans cook, place the eggs in a small saucepan with 1000 ml of cold water, bring to a boil and from there count 9 minutes over medium heat: the yolks will be set but still glossy and golden, without a greenish ring. Immediately transfer them to ice water for 5 minutes, then peel: the cold stops the cooking and makes the shell easier to remove. Meanwhile prepare the tahini: in a bowl combine the 80 g of tahini with half the lemon juice (30 ml) and 1 clove of garlic crushed with a pinch of salt (about 1 g, taken from the 6 g total). Whisk: at first it will seize and become a stiff paste, which is normal, do not give up. Add the 60 ml of cold water a spoonful at a time, whisking, until the sauce turns ivory-coloured, smooth and fluid like cream; taste it, it should be creamy with a background of lemon.
4. Pound the remaining 2 garlic cloves in a mortar with 4 g of fine salt until you have a paste, then mix with the cumin and the remaining lemon juice (30 ml). When the fava beans are soft, drain them, reserving a ladleful of the cooking liquid, return them to the pot and mash them roughly with a fork or potato masher: a third should remain whole, for a rustic texture never as smooth as a purée. Stir in the garlic and lemon paste: the salt goes in here, at the end of cooking, when it can no longer toughen anything. If the mixture is too dry, loosen it with a little of the reserved liquid until it coats the spoon. Let it steep off the heat for 5 minutes.
5. Toast the pitas one at a time in a dry pan over medium-high heat, about 1 minute per side, until warm and fragrant, with a few golden spots and edges just crisp. Dice the tomatoes and roughly chop the parsley. Then taste the fava beans and adjust calmly: if they taste flat, add a little more lemon; if they lack character, a pinch of salt from the remaining gram. Always taste before serving, it is the gesture that makes the difference.
6. Divide the hot fava beans among four deep plates, using the back of a spoon to form a small well in the centre. Pour over each a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (15 ml per plate, 60 ml in total), then add the diced tomato and parsley. Place two halves of boiled egg per plate, with a pinch of salt and red pepper flakes on the yolk (the salt is the remaining gram of the 6 total, divided among the four plates), and a spoonful of tahini sauce on the edge so each person can adjust it to taste. Serve immediately with the warm toasted pita, to be torn and used as a spoon: this is the house rule, here the bread is not a side but half the dish.