Friar's eggs: a traditional recipe from Cádiz suitable for vegans

Have you ever heard of friar eggs? The name and origins of this traditional recipe from Cádiz refer to a striking popular legend. Its preparation is simple, it does not include products of animal origin and its main ingredient is chickpea. In this way, it is an exquisite and inexpensive dish capable of pleasing all palates, even those who are followers of veganism. Do you want to know the history of the friar’s eggs recipe and learn how to prepare it at home? Well, keep reading! The origin of the traditional recipe for “Friar’s Eggs” It is said that this dish originates from 1800, when the region of Cádiz was being occupied by French troops. Fresh food was scarce and it took a lot of creativity to stay well nourished. In this situation, a Capuchin friar would have come up with the idea of mashing the chickpeas, thus making a flour. And then add water and a little salt to make a dough and feed your companions. Although we cannot know what the exact idea of the friar was when preparing the recipe for the first time, his intention seems to have been to substitute the eggs in the preparation of seasoned eggs, or seasoned roe, both typical dishes of the region. The truth is that the tender and slightly grainy texture obtained by cooking crushed chickpeas is more like that of roe. So here we find an ideal alternative for vegans. Friar’s eggs recipe with 7 ingredientsDue to the context of its emergence, we can imagine that the “friar’s eggs” were initially prepared with the ingredients that were available to each person. So there may be small variations in the recipes, but today we share one that seems to be very faithful to the original. Ingredients: Chickpea flour: 1 glass Water: 1 ½ glasses Fresh parsley: 2 tablespoons finely cut Chives: 1 unit. small finely chopped Salt to taste Olive oil and sherry (or apple cider vinegar): amount necessary for dressing Preparation: First, place the chickpea flour with the salt and water in a saucepan or a medium saucepan. Mix with a few rods so that the flour dissolves completely and there are no clumps, that is, until a homogeneous dough is obtained. We bring the saucepan to medium heat and stir constantly until bringing it to a boil. Next, we lower the heat and continue cooking and stirring constantly with the rods, so that the dough does not stick to the bottom of the pot. We cook the dough over low heat until it gets a thick texture and comes off the walls. We test to see if a little more salt needs to be added. We pour the dough into a square or rectangular mold covered with non-stick paper. We add another sheet of paper on top and flatten gently to obtain a thickness of about two fingers. We wait for the dough to be at room temperature and then we put it in the fridge for about two hours, or as long as it takes until it is solid. We remove from the refrigerator and cut into bite-size cubes, which we arrange in a source. Next, add the finely chopped chives and parsley to the source and mix.Finally, dress the friar’s eggs with a generous amount of olive oil and sherry or apple cider vinegar. We test to see if it is necessary to correct the salt and, voila! An extra tip: you can also serve the friar’s eggs as a garnish in your meals.