I find that the simplest dishes often take me the longest to nail down. Take fava, a Turkish spread of dry broad beans. You will find it in every decent meze set in the restaurants and delis of Istanbul and along the Aegean coast. Fava is velvety, smooth and satisfying. It is so good that I can eat it every day. I mean it. I will not think twice about ordering fava at a restaurant even though I cooked it at home just the day before.
This fava bean spread has got only a few ingredients: dry broad beans, onion, carrot and potato. And yet my dining experiences suggest it is too easy to screw up this dish. At very respectable Istanbul restaurants and eateries alike I have eaten fava too wet and too dry, fava of dull boring color, fava sweetened with sugar way too generously, fava with too much salt and fava so bland as if it had arrived from a hospital canteen.
My mother-in-law makes a world class fava bean spread. However very time she entrusts the dish to somebody else, it turns into a disaster. I have many (as you could imagine dramatic) fava stories from the time when I helped her at the kitchen.
No one ever remembered to soak the beans the night before following the mom’s request, so it would be done in urgency, first thing in the morning. Then the person in charge of cooking fava would forget it on the stove. We would be sitting and drinking post-breakfast tee under the walnut tree in front of the restaurant until one of us jumped on her feet and exclaimed “Fava!” As the person in charge of dish would run down the kitchen, we all burst into laughter: the dish got scorched, once again! And even if the pot did not burn, it was uncommon to have everything cooked to perfection besides the carrots. Mom’s helper would try to charm the fava with an immersion blender for 10 minutes. Without looking in the pot you could tell her attempts to break the pieces of the uncooked carrots were nothing but vain.
It takes the precision of a jeweler to make a good fava bean spread. You want to add enough water to let the beans and vegetables cook and make sure the bottom of the pan does not scorch. And yet you don’t want too much water so that your fava reaches a perfect consistency and settles the moment you puree it and transfer to a serving dish. And you don’t want to struggle with the uncooked carrot chunks, that’s why you need to cut the ingredients in a way that they all cook at the same time. After a couple of disasters I nailed it down, and my fava bean spread turns perfect every time. And no, I don’t want you to take my word for it. I want you to try and see for yourself.
Fava Bean Spread (Fava)
Favorites on the meze menu of Istanbul and Aegean fish restaurants. The smooth and a tad sweet paste of dry fava beans is typically served chilled, bathed in finest olive oil and garnished with dill fronds. Here I suggest a dill pesto (recipe below) to go along with the fava spread. Many cooks add sugar to the dish, I don’t as I feel there is enough sweetness in the carrots and the beans.
Source: Olga Irez (www.deliciousistanbul.com)
Prep Time: 10 Min
Cook Time: 1 Hr
Total Time: 1 Hr 10 Min
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry shelled fava beans soaked overnight or for at least 4 hours and thoroughly drained
- 1 medium onion (about 110 g)
- 1 medium potato (about 90 g)
- 1 medium carrot (about 50 g)
- 2.5 cups water
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and more for greasing the serving dish
Directions
- Cook fava beans and vegetables: Peel and cut the onion and potato into 1.5 cm / 0.6 inch dices. Chop the carrots into 1 cm / 0.4 inch dices. Combine the vegetables and pre-soaked and drained fava beans in a medium pot. Pour the water over; the specified amount will be enough to barely cover the vegetables and beans. Cover the pot with a lid leaving a small gap and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to the medium-low and gently simmer. Remove the white foam as it is forms on top. Now and then check whether there is enough water at the bottom: with a fork gently push the beans and vegetables away from the side of the pan, but don’t stir! Add little water if needed to prevent the scorching of the pot. Cook until the vegetables are fork-tender, the beans mash easily and the water completely evaporates (about 1 hour).
- Make fava bean spread: Remove the pot from the heat and immediately puree with an immersion blender until the fava bean spread reaches a smooth silky consistency, not unlike creme patisserie. Inspect for any random chunks of carrots or potato and puree until they disappear. Add sea salt and extra virgin olive oil and run the blender again to combine. Grease individual cups or a large serving dish with more olive oil and transfer the fava bean spread. Smooth the surface with a spatula and add a bit olive oil to prevent large cracks as the spread settles (which it does in minutes). For the best result, refrigerate the spread overnight: next day you will be able to release the puree from the dish easily, cut into pieces and serve with the dill pesto.
Dill Pesto
Source: Olga Irez (www.deliciousistanbul.com)
Prep Time: 5 Min
Total Time: 5 Min
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup finely chopped dill
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp finely ground almonds
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to reach the desired consistency. I pulse for a while as I personally like this pesto smooth and runny so I can pour it over the chunks of fava bean spread. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Hey, great to have the recipe for this dish from you! It made an impression, that time we had it at Zelis. The mesmerising texture and lovely flavours… yum. I’m sure it’s even better with your dill pesto.
Which reminds me…. can we also have a muhammara recipe ?
Ta.