Bissara — Moroccan Split Pea Breakfast Soup

Ingredients

• 1½ cups dried split peas or fava beans, rinsed
• 5 cups water
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1½ tsp cumin + 1 tsp sweet paprika
• ⅓ cup olive oil + more for the ritual pour
• Lemon
• Bread, warm

Method

1. Simmer the peas with the garlic in the water, partially covered, 35–40 minutes until utterly collapsed.
2. Blend smooth with the cumin, half the olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt — bissara should pour like thick cream, so loosen with water as needed.
3. Warm through and taste: cumin-forward, garlicky, comforting.
4. Ladle into bowls and perform the finish that makes it bissara: a serious pour of olive oil, a dust of paprika and cumin, a squeeze of lemon.
5. Serve with bread for dipping. In Fez this is what winter mornings smell like — porridge's savory cousin with better jewelry.