Ful at Home

For lunch, I had ful mudammas, some miniature heirloom tomatoes, and greek yogurt with pomegranate syrup.

The ful has been sitting around in the pantry through two moves, so I figured this was a good time to finally eat it. To clarify, ful (pronounced "fool", also spelled "foul") is an Egyptian breakfast/lunch item made from fava beans cooked with olive oil and spices to the preferred degree of mushiness, served with pita. The ful I had on hand was simply canned favas pre-seasoned for ful. I'd never tried canned ful before, and quickly decided the seasonings were too sweet. To remedy this, I mixed in about a teaspoon of sumac. When that wasn't sufficient, I added several huge pinches of Ethiopian berbere powder I had lying around, along with a little olive oil. The result was interesting and a little spicy. If I'd wanted to make a pita, my Greek yogurt probably would've been a nice contrast to add.

Instead, I prepared the Greek yogurt with my favorite obscure condiment, pomegranate molasses. Pomegranate molasses is just pomegranate juice, cooked down into a thick syrup for use in cooking, but the flavor is like the best tart, bright, earthy, fruity candy you can imagine. Really tart. The effect is similar to passion fruit puree, with a less acidic finish. It's excellent over yogurt or ice cream, and I've even used it to successfully sweeten olive oil & oatmeal cookies. It's one of my favorite snacks that's vaguely healthy yet delicious.

Greek Yogurt with Pomegranate Syrup.

For breakfast, I had a bowl of Greek yogurt drizzled with pomegranate syrup. Greek yogurt is strained after it's made, resulting in a firmer texture. Imagine room-temperature cream cheese. It is available in a variety of milkfats and flavors, but I prefer the plain 2% fat. The fat-free variety is still way creamier than normal yogurt, but, well, I like fat. The pomegranate syrup has an acidic zing that's almost too much by itself (which still doesn't stop me from eating it by the spoonful...) but is balanced really well by the creamy yogurt. It also adds a little sweetness and flavor, but is more interesting than honey or fruit.