P
Italian · Puglia
Fave e Cicoria — Dried Fava Purée with Wild Chicory
Fave e cicoria is the most celebrated Pugliese dish and one of the greatest preparations in Italian cooking — a smooth, dense purée of dried fava beans cooked down to an almost frothy consistency, served alongside boiled wild chicory (cicoria selvatica) dressed simply with olive oil. The opposition of the mild, slightly sweet fava purée and the intensely bitter, almost astringent wild chicory is the point of the dish. Without the bitterness of wild chicory, fave e cicoria is pleasant but not revelatory. With genuine cicoria selvatica (not the milder cultivated variety), it is one of the defining flavour experiences of southern Italian cooking.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the fava purée
500 g
dried split fava beans
fave secche sgusciate; soaked overnight in cold water, drained
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
waxy potatoes
peeled, halved — optional but traditional in some versions for creaminess
Origin · FranceLekker · Vancouver →
1
garlic clove
whole, peeled
Your own market
1
celery stalk
whole
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 ml
raw Pugliese extra-virgin olive oil
DOP Terra di Bari or DOP Dauno preferred; plus extra to finish
Your own market
fine sea salt
Your own market
black pepper
freshly ground
Your own market
For the cicoria
800 g
wild chicory
cicoria selvatica; or the bitterest cultivated variety available, trimmed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
coarse sea salt
for the boiling water and for dressing
Your own market
30 ml
raw Pugliese extra-virgin olive oil
to dress the cicoria while still hot
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Drain the soaked fava beans and place in a large saucepan. Cover with fresh cold water by at least 5 cm. Add the potatoes, the garlic clove, and the celery stalk. Bring to the boil, skim any foam that rises, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook for 45–60 minutes until the fava beans and potatoes are completely soft and collapsing — a bean pressed between finger and thumb should offer no resistance whatsoever.
2
Discard the celery stalk. Pass the fava beans and potatoes together through a food mill or mouli — not a blender, which produces a gluey, homogeneous paste. The mouli gives the purée its characteristic slightly irregular, almost frothy texture. Work in batches if necessary until all the solids have passed through.
3
This is where the dish lives or dies. Return the passed purée to a clean pan over low heat. Beat in a generous quantity of raw olive oil — the purée should absorb the oil progressively, becoming rich, voluptuous, and almost whipped in consistency. Season with fine salt and freshly ground black pepper. The finished purée must be deeply oiled and giving; a mean, tight purée is a failure. Taste and adjust salt.
4
Bring a large pot of abundantly salted water to a rolling boil. Add the wild chicory and cook for 8–10 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Dress immediately with raw olive oil and a pinch of sea salt while the leaves are still steaming hot — the heat opens the greens to the oil. The cicoria should retain its deep, astringent bitterness and a slight chew.
5
Spoon the fava purée into warmed shallow bowls. Use the back of the spoon to form a hollow at the centre. Pile the dressed cicoria alongside. Finish with a generous puddle of raw Pugliese olive oil in the hollow of the purée. The plate should show ivory-beige purée against dark-green cicoria, with the oil catching the light.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Cicoria selvatica foraged from the Salento or Tavoliere plains in the January–April season; dried fave secche sgusciate from a named Pugliese producer; DOP Terra di Bari or DOP Dauno olive oil, single-harvest, cold-pressed.
02
Estate — Wild chicory sourced from a specialist Italian or southern-Mediterranean greengrocer; good-quality dried split fava beans from an Italian or Egyptian importer; a single-origin Pugliese DOP extra-virgin olive oil.
03
Market — The bitterest cultivated chicory available — avoiding Belgian endive or mild curly endive in favour of the darkest, most pungent variety found; standard dried split fava beans; a reputable southern Italian extra-virgin olive oil.
04
House — Any cultivated chicory or dandelion leaf that carries genuine bitterness; dried split fava beans of any reliable origin; a peppery, fruity extra-virgin olive oil — the dish remains coherent if the olive oil is generous and the greens are bitter.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. A fava bean pressed between finger and thumb dissolves without resistance — the bean and potato are completely collapsed before milling.
◇Sight. The milled purée, once oiled, holds a soft, slightly irregular, almost frothy body — neither stiff nor pourable; it falls from the spoon in a slow, generous wave.
◇Smell. Raw olive oil beaten into the hot purée releases a grassy, peppery fragrance — the signal that sufficient oil has been incorporated.
◇Sight. The drained cicoria is deep green and glistening with oil; it should not be waterlogged or pale, which would indicate overcooking.
◇Where it lives or dies. The purée must receive a generous, progressive beating-in of raw olive oil until it is rich and almost whipped — an under-oiled purée collapses the entire character of the dish.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Sparkling wine
From British Columbia
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