Greek Fava - Yellow split-pea purée
Φάβα από λαθούρι
Published originally on my blog on 25 January 2014
Ever since I started this blog, I have evolved a great deal as a cook, as an eater, as an aficionado of food. I appreciate it more now because I know more about it. I have discovered new flavors, I have learned things from cookbooks as well as from my fellow food bloggers and my palate has become more sophisticated. I am no longer content with what I used to eat five or six years ago.
However, nothing will ever change when it comes to my food, Greek food. The appreciation I have for my country’s food has only grown and I have learned that I don’t need to mess with it in order to prove something, or try to make it better. It is unique.
Perhaps it’s the fact that for the last six years I don’t live permanently in Greece that has made me crave it more, or the fact that I am exposed to so many different types of culinary cultures here in the Netherlands that I don’t feel the need to fuse traditional Greek cooking to make it more modern or hip. I love it for what is.
Sure, I love experimenting with all types of cuisines and I truly enjoy new combinations, but you’ll find that when it comes to the traditional dishes of my country, I keep them very much intact. I love them that way.
There is so much room to experiment with flavors on other plains, on dishes based on Greek ingredients, the Greek staples if you’d like, but I will never cook mousaka with anything other than the ingredients it was meant to be cooked with. I leave the evolution, or destruction, of our culinary history and tradition to others, and there are plenty of them out there.
Fava (not to be confused with the fava bean which in Greece is called kouki/ κουκί) is a traditional Greek dish of yellow split peas (lathouri in Greek/λαθούρι). It is a purée, flavored with onion and cooked and served with olive oil. It is usually served at room temperature as a mezes, to be eaten alongside other small plates of food, or as an appetizer before a fish-based main dish. In my home though, we always have it as a warm main dish, simply because we love it so much. Especially me.
It is easy and quick to make, it is frugal, hearty and nutritious, and absolutely delicious to boot. Served topped with a good drizzling of Greek olive oil, and a side of anchovies or sardines, black olives (I prefer Kalamata), raw onion, feta and fresh crusty bread, fava is the epitome of traditional, rustic Greek cooking.
