Fava bean burger with ketchup, tzatziki and mayonnaise, Styrsö, Sweden.
Text Photo & Video © JE Nilsson & CM Cordeiro 2020
Swedish summers are marked by numerous BBQ-parties. Sometimes, it can feel as if you´re in an implicit neighbourhood race to fill the air with the aromas of BBQ grilled foods. I was in fact, introduced to the Swedish BBQ-party on my very first trip to Sweden when I was still in my university days. It was mid-May and a warm 10 degress celcius outdoors. I met with a group of young men with beer in hand. They lounged in nothing but shorts in beach chairs pulled up close to the smoking BBQ pit. I wore an orange knitted turtleneck sweater and thought I should really have brought a light jacket with me. I was promptly introduced to the group of BBQ party-goers, some of whom looked at me as if they had questions to ask. My introduction was then followed by “she´s from Singapore”, to which there was an acknowledged round of nods. Even if the smell of meat on the BBQ grill was fantastic, after ten minutes, I politely asked if I could go indoors to warm my hands on the oven stove.
This BBQ session was held in mid-August, with summer already in full swing. Most foods for the table were harvested from the garden and lightly cooked on the stove, leaving only a few items for the outdoor grill. The combination of dishes prepared in the kitchen and BBQ grilled foods made this a fairly manageable affair, orchestrating a (relatively) synchronous sitting at the table.
The novel recipe try for this event and the item on the grill were fava bean patties. The softened fava beans, when combined with all other ingredients that went into the patty making turned out quite savoury and flavourful. We plated it without burger buns, and we also experimented making burgers in combination of hummus, tzatziki and mayonnaise. I think most around the table settled quickly into which flavour combinations they preferred and then had seconds of their favourites.
Ingredients, fava bean patties
5 dl fava beans (ca. 1 can, drained)
1.5 dl bulgar
1 dl rolled oats
1/2 dl parmesan, grated
2 eggs
2 medium sized onions, finely chopped and caramelized before adding to the fava bean mixture
100g chanterelle, lightly cooked in cream and then blended with the fava bean mixture
1/2 tsp black ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp herbs de provence or a blend of Italian herbs
Method
Blend all ingredients and portion out into patties. Bread crumb the disc shaped patties. Drizzle olive oil over the patties. Bake at 175°C oven for 20 minutes on each side till they are crisp top and bottom.
Garden
Cherry tomato plants with some tomatoes sun ripened and ready for harvest.
Rosemary.
Flowering dill.
Pea pods, to be harvested.
Västeråsgurka.
A bright and chripy västeråsgurka flower.
Blackberries …
… now turned into marmalade.
BBQ
It took about twenty minutes or so for the BBQ fire to calm and the charcoal to turn into a hot gray ash.
Grill items of the day, hamburger buns and fava bean patties.
On the table
A mix of greens from the garden. A bowl of tzatziki in the background.
Peas harvested from the garden.
Hummus topped with chopped chilies and garden curly parsley.
Fava bean patties.
Fava bean patties plattered with hummus, tzatziki, garden peas, feta cheese and garden tomatoes.
Fava bean burger. This version had a combination of tzatziki and hummus.