What is bissara, the Moroccan fava bean soup?

Bissara is humble, warming peasant food, and I love it precisely because it is unpretentious. It is a smooth purée of dried fava beans (or sometimes split peas) simmered until they collapse, then blended with garlic, cumin, and good olive oil into something between a thick soup and a dip. It is poured into a shallow bowl and crowned with a generous pool of olive oil, a heavy dusting of cumin and sweet paprika, and sometimes a pinch of chilli.

The taste is earthy and mellow, the fava beans giving it a nutty, slightly grassy depth, while the cumin and garlic keep it lively. Eaten piping hot on a cold morning, with crusty bread torn and dragged through it, there are few things more comforting in Morocco. The olive oil on top is not optional — it is what makes the dish, so always stir it in.

Traditionally it is a winter and breakfast food, sold from tiny hole-in-the-wall spots that open early and steam up the windows. Northern cities, especially Chefchaouen and Tangier, are famous for it, and you will see workers crowding in at dawn for a quick, cheap, nourishing bowl before the day starts. It costs almost nothing, which is part of its charm and its history as everyday sustenance.

For the best bissara, skip the smart restaurants and look for a basic stand with a queue of locals and a big pot of green-grey purée. In Chefchaouen’s blue medina I take guests to a couple of tiny places that serve it from sunrise. I always tell people to order it with extra cumin and a squeeze of nothing fancy — just bread, oil, and steam.