Fül (pronounced “fool”), which is Arabic for fava beans, is a favorite Sunday morning dish among Aleppian Jews and a fixture of the post-Yom Kippur table. This dish is a Middle Eastern classic that originated in Egypt. In fact, medammas is Coptic for “buried,” which suggests the original preparation required the beans to be buried in a pot. Although there are countless ways of embellishing fül the basic recipe remains the same.

There are different kinds of fava beans, which require different cooking times depending on their size, so you must make sure you use the right kind. The only fava bean used for making this dish is the small round one called fül ham man (“bath fava”). The beans should be cooked until soft; there should be no “bite” to them.