Shelling and peeling fresh fava beans is a family affair. We, well the women, gather at the table to shell the beans while chatting away, about what I do not know.
There is no sense of time when peeling them, each one is done with rhythmic hands, snap back the stem, pull away the 'thread', press to open and pull apart to expose the beans.
The season is getting late here and the beans I bought this weekend were quite large.
Ingredients:
3 cups of fresh fava beans
3 tasses de feves frais
Juice of one lemon
Jus de citron
Zest of half a lemon
Zest de 1/2 citron
1 tomato concasse
1 tomate en concasse
1/4 cup of Extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tasse d'huile d'olive
Salt at the table for seasoning
Sel
Lemon wedges for garnish
quartiers de citrons pour garniture
Boil 3 cups of fava beans in a big pot of water for about 20-25 minutes. My Aunt Farida does not overcook them. They should be tender, but still have a little bite.
Drain, rinse under cold water. Cut away the edge of the skin with a sharp paring knife, be careful not to cut in too deeply, you want the beans to be intact. Gently squeeze the opposite end between your thumb and forefinger to pop out the bean.
Add the lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest, tomatoes and toss.
Serve on a plate or bowl with wedges of lemon, diners season with salt to taste at the table and squeeze more lemon juice as desired. This is eaten for lunch with kesra or khobz and is also served as kemia or meze. Traditionally this salad is served at room temperature, but it's refreshing eaten cold on a hot summer day.
This is exactly how my Aunt Farida would serve it. Most of the time when she cut food she did not use a chopping board, she would cut over the board, towards her body. But she liked to occassionally do little dice for a decorative touch.
Algeria Algerian Cuisine Algerian Recipes Algerian Food Algerian dishes Cuisine Algerienne Recettes Algerienne North African cuisine Maghreb Cuisine
Comments