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shadowfax
Joined: 31 May 2003
Posts: 212
Location: Pocket Universe 935500921223097532957092196
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 Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 2:19 pm Post subject: fouls medames; tamees |
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Does anyone have a simple recipe with instructions how to make these?
I have been using tinned foul but I wish to control salt levels and produce a healthier and more authentic result. I believe the fava bean is used by some cooks. With an internet search I couldn't see the wood for the trees: difficult to home in on a classic simple recipe.
Can tamees be made with wholemeal bread? Can you make it in a standard electric oven?
With the onslaught of avian flu it seems high time the Arab world enlivened its interest in foul, one of its major but neglected contributions to world cuisine. Many of the takeaway outlets in Saudi seem to produce a less than satisfactory version. I have never been able to match a Turkoman outlet I frequented in the Kingdom some years ago. Accompanied with cummin, mashed chili, and yogurt (or was it laban?), it was an example of a vegetarian meal that never left one feeling deprived of meat. |
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usool
Joined: 11 May 2004
Posts: 147
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| You are more than welcome to pop round, I'll get my wife to knock up some top class foul. We can eat and discuss the latest philosophical trends. |
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Bebsi
Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 958
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| Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:25 pm Post subject: Foul things |
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From Fowl to Foul???????????
Actually, fava beans have been famously used by some cooks, among them one Dr. H. Lecter, who had a penchant for eating them with some human flesh and a bottle of Chianti. I prefer Barolo myself, or even a good Amarone, but in KSA that really is a moot point anyway, I would have thought.
Incidentally, foul is a mainstay of Lebanese cuisine, one of the great cuisines of the world. Saudi cuisine, on the other hand, does seem to have more modest ambitions, and to the best of my knowledge has not achieved any significant fame. Perhaps on Edgeware Rd, one may get an authentic Saudi restaurant, serving greasy, "burnt on the outside but raw on the inside" chicken, gristly mutton Kabsah and perhaps even, watery Mandi, all accompanied by the ubiquitous glutinous rice.
I think I will stick with a good Beef Sharhat, the Lebanese version of Foul Medammas and a nice bottle of Chateau Musar.  |
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ootii
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 124
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:29 pm Post subject: Re: fouls medames; tamees |
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| shadowfax wrote: |
Does anyone have a simple recipe with instructions how to make these?
I have been using tinned foul but I wish to control salt levels and produce a healthier and more authentic result. I believe the fava bean is used by some cooks. With an internet search I couldn't see the wood for the trees: difficult to home in on a classic simple recipe. |
There are two varieties of dried foul [fool] beans on the market. The Chinese ones are about the size of large peas and egg shaped. The Egyptian ones look more like large broad-beans [that is what they are, in fact] and are slightly flattened when dried. Get the "Egyptian" variety if you can find them as they are far superior in both taste and texture.
To cook them properly you'll need a special cooking pot called a hydra. This is shaped rather like a flask. It has a spherical base and a narrower elongatged mouth, with a lid. This is important since the beans need to stew for quite a long time. As they do, steam condenses on the tapering sides of the pot and this returns the liquid to the beans.
The longer they stew, the better, but most people stew them for six hours or so. You can do the same with eggs - add onion skins to the water and this will give the shells, and the eggs, a light brown color. These are lovely with foul.
You can add what you want to the foul as it stews - onion, garlic, tomatoes, cumin, butter. If you use salt, do not add it until they are thoroughly cooked. JSalt can harden the covering of all uncooked pulses.
Once the beans are cooked you can garnish them with olive oil, butter, tahina, tomato, or whatever you like. Every country seems to have it's own favorite. In Lebanon they mix foul with chick peas, but I'm not sure in what ratio. It depends on how much you like chick peas.
All dried beans should be presoaked overnight before cooking. Some people like to use a pressure cooker, and then some people eat at MacDonalds.
| Quote: |
| Can tamees be made with wholemeal bread? Can you make it in a standard electric oven? |
Not really. There is a kind of Turkish bread that resembles it that can be though. Use milk and water - about half and half and plenty of yeast. Don't use olive oil in it though, canola or sunflower is probably best.
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| With the onslaught of avian flu it seems high time the Arab world enlivened its interest in foul, one of its major but neglected contributions to world cuisine. Many of the takeaway outlets in Saudi seem to produce a less than satisfactory version. I have never been able to match a Turkoman outlet I frequented in the Kingdom some years ago. Accompanied with cummin, mashed chili, and yogurt (or was it laban?), it was an example of a vegetarian meal that never left one feeling deprived of meat. |
For good Egyptian fool try Gad - but they tend only to serve it in the morning in sandwitches. On Friday noon go for kosheri.
Omar |
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shadowfax
Joined: 31 May 2003
Posts: 212
Location: Pocket Universe 935500921223097532957092196
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| Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:08 pm Post subject: Wishing you all the joy of the bean! |
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Much obliged, ootii. I will regale myself with the said hydra. I have always wondered why they were so peculiarly shaped.
Trust Bebsi to shew forth a carnal disposition. O that he would cleanse him with bitter herbs and purge him with hyssop; instead of stewing in carnal kine! Or has he miraculously transformed into a classical Pythagorean, eschewing the nefandous bean as a representative of rank and bestial concupiscence? I think not. |
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ootii
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 124
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:29 am Post subject: Re: Wishing you all the joy of the bean! |
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| shadowfax wrote: |
Much obliged, ootii. I will regale myself with the said hydra. I have always wondered why they were so peculiarly shaped.
Trust Bebsi to shew forth a carnal disposition. O that he would cleanse him with bitter herbs and purge him with hyssop; |
Failing that, there is always the zaatar croissant for a typically hybrid continental breakfast East of Sebastopol.
That the croissant was invented to celebrate the victory of the Austrians over invading Turks is a nefarious lie invented by the enemies of pastry.
The fact that Saudi croissants are not shaped like crescents has nothing to do with their being a "sign of the Cross", but rather to efficient packing and use of oven space. I do wish that they would make them with butter though - even if it isn't Danish. |
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KSA-UK
Joined: 03 May 2005
Posts: 31
Location: Sandy Arabia
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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Usool!
Was that an open invitation to all board members?
I've never tried authentic homemade fool...I mean foul..(I'm not sure about the spelling!) |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 3:11 am Post subject: |
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The spelling is one of those mysterious transliteration problems. I normally use fuul - which gets you away from the connotations of the words fool and foul...  though the pronounciation is closer to 'fool.'
VS |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 6:09 am Post subject: |
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| 'Foul Madams' always makes me laugh. And later break wind ! |
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