Warm, slow-cooked fava beans lightly mashed and dressed with garlic, lemon, olive oil and cumin. A humble, protein-rich breakfast eaten by scooping it up with warm pita, often alongside pickles, tomato and fresh mint.
Foul mudammas is among the most ancient prepared foods of the region, a fava-bean staple that has fed the Eastern Mediterranean for millennia. In Lebanon it is the quintessential weekend breakfast, simmered overnight in tall narrow pots and served bubbling-warm to be mashed at the table with garlic and lemon. Cheap, filling and endlessly comforting, it is the kind of dish people crave on a slow morning with friends and a stack of bread.
Soft, earthy beans give way under the spoon into a rough, creamy mash slicked with grassy olive oil. Sharp garlic and bright lemon wake it up, cumin grounds it, and a torn piece of warm pita makes the perfect scoop.
Slow cooking softens the dense fava beans so they partly break down into a creamy base while some stay whole for contrast. Mashing raw garlic with salt tames its bite into a smooth paste, and the acid-and-oil dressing both seasons the beans and emulsifies into a glossy, cohesive coating.
Variations
With chickpeas mixed in; topped with tahini; spicy with chili; Egyptian-style heavily spiced; finished with a fried egg
On the Palate
Where Foul Mudammas sits in the Lebanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 10 min
- 110 min
Use cooked dried fava beans, or warm canned foul beans gently in their liquid.
- 23 min
Crush some of the beans with the back of a spoon, leaving others whole for texture.
Watch outMash only part of the beans into a creamy base and leave the rest whole — mash them all and it turns to baby food with no texture.
- 32 min
Mash fresh garlic with salt into a paste and stir it through the warm beans.
Watch outGrind the garlic with salt into a smooth paste before it goes in — raw garlic chunks leave harsh hot bites.
- 42 min
Dress generously with fresh lemon juice and good olive oil.
Watch outPour lemon and oil over while the beans are still warm and stir — warm beans drink in the dressing and turn glossy.
- 52 min
Season with ground cumin and a little chopped tomato or parsley.
- 61 min
Spoon into a shallow bowl and make a well in the center for more olive oil.
- 72 min
Garnish with parsley, sliced tomato, mint and a dusting of paprika.
- 83 min
Serve warm with pita bread, olives and pickled vegetables.
