Fasolada

Fasolada
Alternative names Fasoulada, fasolia
Type Soup
Place of origin Greece and Cyprus
Main ingredients Dry white beans, olive oil, vegetables
Cookbook:Fasolada  Fasolada

Fasolada, fasoulada or sometimes fasolia (Greek: φασολάδα, φασουλάδα or φασολια) is a Greek and Cypriot soup of dry white beans, olive oil, and vegetables, sometimes called the "national food of the Greeks".[1]

It originated in ancient Greece, where a sort of stew of beans, vegetables, and grains, with no meat, was used as food and sacrifice to Greek God Apollo at the Pyanopsia festival.[2][3][4][5][6]

Its counterpart in Turkish cuisine is called kuru fasulye. The Arabic version is called fasoulia and is found in parts of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen and the Levant (Arabic: فاصوليا).

Fasolada is made by simmering beans with tomatoes and other vegetables such as carrots, onion, parsley, celery, and bay leaf. Lima beans are sometimes used instead of white beans. Recipes vary considerably.

It is often enriched with olive oil either in the kitchen or on the table.

Unlike the Italian fagiolata, the Brazilian and Portuguese feijoada, Romanian fasole and the Spanish fabada, fasolada does not contain meat.

See also

References

  1. Λεξικό της κοινής Νεοελληνικής, 1998
  2. August Mommsen
  3. Nancy Evans, Civic Rites: Democracy and Religion in Ancient Athens, 2010, ISBN 0520262026, p. 180
  4. Πλουτάρχου Βίοι Παράλληλοι, Θησεύς, κεφ. 22.4.
  5. Dictionnaire Grec Ancien -Français
  6. Αθήναιου Δειπνοσοφισταί, Βιβλίο Θ', 408a