fava — Turkey

Fava is a cold meze made from dried fava beans, also called broad beans or bakla, which are soaked, peeled and cooked until they collapse into a soft mash. The beans are pureed with olive oil, lemon juice and a little sugar, then left to cool until they set into a spreadable paste that can be sliced or spooned onto a plate. This dish belongs to the meze tables found across Turkey, from Istanbul's meyhane taverns to seaside restaurants along the Aegean coast. It usually opens a meal alongside other cold starters, raki, and warm bread, and is common practice in coastal towns where fava beans and olive oil are readily available. To prepare it, the dried, split beans are soaked for several hours, then simmered with chopped onion in water until completely soft. The cooked beans are seasoned with salt, pepper and a touch of sugar to balance the earthy bitterness of the pulses, then blended smooth with olive oil. The puree is poured into a mold or shallow dish, chilled until firm, and turned out just before serving. Cooks vary the dish in small ways: some use yellow split peas instead of fava beans, others thicken the puree with rice or potato, and the garnish can range from a simple drizzle of olive oil and lemon to chopped dill, capers, spring onion or a soft-boiled egg on top. According to some accounts, the dish has long circulated around the eastern Mediterranean, though its exact path is hard to pin down; either way, the result stays a soft, tangy bean paste eaten cold with bread.