# EA: Fuul فول



## moura

Hi,

I found a reference to a kind of Egyptian food named "fuul". From what I have searched it may be a kind of bean (_fava bean_) mingled with garlic and lemon. Is it correct?

Thank you


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## Faraón80

Yes this is correct. Its fava beans mingled with lemon, oil and salt and whatever you might wish to add but the one i mentioned is the classic. In Egypt the name is فول مدمس  Fuul medames

best.


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## Josh_

'Fuul' is the name of the fava bean itself, not including any other ingredients.  The cooking method known as 'tadmiis' (تدميس ) is, as far as I know, slow cooking (beans and such) in a stoppered pot over a fire or buried in hot ashes.  'Fuul' cooked by this method is known as 'fuul midammis.'


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## elroy

In Palestinian Arabic we say "fuul (i)mdamm*a*s."  The other version sounds a little funny to me, because it sounds active instead of passive.


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## Josh_

In Egyptian Arabic verb forms II-X usually only have one participle that can be either passive or active depending on context.


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## moura

Thank you all for your replies. From what I know now about "fuul" I would love to taste it! Perhaps some day...


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## moura

Just a complementary comment. From the picture I've just seen, this "fava beans" is known in Portugal as "fava" ("favas" in plural). Curious.


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## Faraón80

well I am not quite familiar with Portuegese gastronomy but its typical Egyptian dish just like the paella o la tortilla de patatas en españa. 

Best.


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## elroy

It's a very typical Palestinian dish as well.


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## Abu Rashid

moura,



> From what I know now about "fuul" I would love to taste it!



If you have an Arabic grocery shop nearby (I'm sure there should be one somewhere in a big city like Lisbon), they often sell canned Foul Medammas which is جاهز للأكل (ready to eat), you just add some lemon, garlic & olive oil to taste and heat.


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## moura

Thank you Abu. I know some Indian shops, but I wil try to find an Arabe one in Lisbon. I have googled, but found no one so far. 
But I won't forget, and if I find the "fuul" I will return here to give my opinion. I hated fava beans as a child, together with beans, peas and all those other things that children usually hate. Some years ago I began eating favas and now I like very much - wirth smoked meat, prepared with onions, olive oil, corianders, parsley, water and slices of bread (my favourite fava recipy).
But we use the favas always complete and never smashed as I think happens in fuul.


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## WadiH

moura said:


> Thank you Abu. I know some Indian shops, but I wil try to find an Arabe one in Lisbon. I have googled, but found no one so far.
> But I won't forget, and if I find the "fuul" I will return here to give my opinion. I hated fava beans as a child, together with beans, peas and all those other things that children usually hate. Some years ago I began eating favas and now I like very much - wirth smoked meat, prepared with onions, olive oil, corianders, parsley, water and slices of bread (my favourite fava recipy).
> But we use the favas always complete and never smashed as I think happens in fuul.


 
I don't think "medammis" is smashed either though.

This thread made me really homesick.


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## elroy

Wadi Hanifa said:


> I don't think "medammis" is smashed either though.


 It's _mashed_ (at least partly), which I guess is what Moura meant.


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## SofiaB

Moura here is a recipe:
1 1/2 lbs of dried fava beans or broad beans 2 cloves crushed garlic 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 teaspoon cumin    
Drain, and cover with fresh water in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until beans are tender.

Drain and place in bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Beans and remaining ingredients can be mashed together, or the beans can be left whole and gently mixed with remaining ingredients. It is more commonly served mashed together.


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## moura

Thank you very much Sofia for your recipy. I kept it already in my favourites and I assure you I will try it some day! (with this "tastefull" thread, if I saw a fave dish in front of me today, none would remain...)


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## Abu Rashid

> and if I find the "fuul" I will return here to give my opinion



Just a note, you'll never see "fuul" written, it's usually written "foul" or "foule" in Latin characters. So make sure you don't look out for fuul


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## moura

Abu Rashid said:


> Just a note, you'll never see "fuul" written, it's usually written "foul" or "foule" in Latin characters. So make sure you don't look out for fuul


 
So, and coming back to the beginning, writing "fuul" should be wrong, inexact? This word comes in italic in a book I am translating from the English, and I was thinking in living it as it is (I have made a footnote explaining it). I would not want change the writer's writing, but if it should be wrong...


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## MarcB

moura said:


> So, and coming back to the beginning, writing "fuul" should be wrong, inexact? This word comes in italic in a book I am translating from the English, and I was thinking in living it as it is (I have made a footnote explaining it). I would not want change the writer's writing, but if it should be wrong...


It would not be wrong "fuul" is a phonetic spelling, the situation is there is no one official transliteration for Arabic, several versions exist.


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## moura

Thank you, Marc. Not common as Abu said, but not wrong.


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## Qcumber

moura said:


> Just a complementary comment. From the picture I've just seen, this "fava beans" is known in Portugal as "fava" ("favas" in plural). Curious.


*Latin faba* 
> Italian fava
> French fève
> Spanish haba


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## cherine

moura said:


> So, and coming back to the beginning, writing "fuul" should be wrong, inexact?


 
I don't know about Portuguese, but I were to write it in Spanish, I'd write it like this: fúl.


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## Abu Rashid

I was just mentioning how it's normally written on cans that are exported from the Middle East with latin (normally english) writing. They almost all use the spelling "foul". Which is strange, because that word has a bad meaning in english actually.


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## clevermizo

Abu Rashid said:


> I was just mentioning how it's normally written on cans that are exported from the Middle East with latin (normally english) writing. They almost all use the spelling "foul". Which is strange, because that word has a bad meaning in english actually.



The spelling _ou_ for the sound [uu] or even  is due to French influence. Even in dialect writing, in places like Lebanon or Morocco or other countries with history of French presence, this spelling is common. Another vestige of this influence is using the spelling _ch_ for the sound [sh].


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## Faraón80

I think one can´t rule out  a pronunciation of an Arabic word in Latin characters as wrong or write as the each letter in each and every foreign language has a different pronunciation.

Best.


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## Arrius

I think I've seen _foule mesdames_ on the label of a tin/can of this stuff, which struck me as rather strange as I originally thought there was some reference to French ladies!


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