Egyptian Fool Medammess Beans With Tahini, Tomato / Lettuce Salad...Very Nourishing

In Absence Of The Real McCoy We Have To Buy Canned Fool.

75 million Egyptians nearly eat Fool Medammess Beans for breakfast or lunch every day. (The proper way to spell is FOUL. I am writing it Fool because that is how it is pronounced and not Fowl). It  is their primary source of energy and protein plus it is the cheapest food they can buy with the scant salaries they receive. However they have a certain ritual in eating this food, depending of course on their income, and standard of living. The better off they are the more they add to it....
First of all it is very difficult to make fool at home because it is an all night affair of simmering at a very very low temperature something which most house holds don't do anymore. They just go out and buy ready made from a specialized shop or canned. Here in Greece we can only find canned which we find very
tasty. They do their job.

Cans of various weights are sold in the Egyptian grocery where we buy our Egyptian stuff. There are many such groceries around Athens. This one just happens to be closer to where we live and has a bigger choice.

Please allow me a bit of Geographical History of my origin.

You see there are many Egyptians in Greece, the same way as once there were many of Greeks in Egypt during the beginning of the 20th century.  Both my grand father (also named Stelios Mamatis) and my grand mother were part of the Diaspora Greeks living in Egypt. They both came from the island of Imvros, once Greek, now owned by Turkey.  Imvros and Tenedos are two islands right at the entry of the Straights of  Dardanelles leading to the Sea of Marmara from the Mediterranean.

All  Light Blue Islands Are Greek, The Two Red Ones Now Belong To Turkey. Imvros (The Big One) And Tenedos. You See Why Turkey Holds On To Them.

 Back to our recipe: Wew!!

Consider 100 gr. and two boiled eggs per person, because by the time you finish garnishing your plate, believe me it will be full.

To prepare this meal you will need.
Serves 4 to 6 to 8 to as many persons as you like.

One Can 400 gr

-  2,4,6 cans of fool.
-  Juice of 4 to 6 lemons.
-  Cayenne powder.
-  Cumin powder.
-  Salt.
-  4,6,8,10 hard boiled eggs peeled and sliced with the egg slicer.

Egg Slicer

Prepared Tahini (Finally A Proper Picture)

-  Prepared Tahini my post dated July 18, 2011.
 -  Pita or Arab bread.
-  Olive oil.
-  Plain tomatoes cut in small pieces with no dressing.
-  Plain lettuce torn in bite size pieces with no dressing.
-  Fried Felafel my post dated April 8th and July 26th 2011

Felafel

Method how to prepare your plate:
-  Add fool to your plate according to your appetite.
-  Press with your fork to mash.

 -  Add a couple of felafel and mash.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

-  Add tahini.to taste.

 -  Add sliced eggs, salt, pepper, cayenne, and cumin.

-  Add tomato pieces.
-  Add olive oil, lemon juice.

 -  Add lettuce.

-  Add raw onion (optional).

-  By now your plate is probably overflowing with stuff, so you have to transfer everything into a bigger plate. Mash and mix with your fork till you get a delicious moist  mixture.  Add some more oil, lemon, salt, cumin or cayenne if you need to.

As You Have Seen From Above It Is A Ritual

How to eat:
-  Cut a piece of pita, with your left hand dig in and fill that piece of bread and stick it in your mouth or
-  Cut half the pita, separate it, and fill. Press to squash everything together and devour.
-  Water is all you drink with food. It is an Islamic dish anyway. No alcohol!
-  It is very filling but you can have as many servings as you wish.
-  After the meal you must have Bedouin Tea as shown in my post dated October 16th 2011 to digest.

-  After that the best thing to do is to go to sleep!!
Hope you enjoy!!
Stelio.