Dried Lupine Seeds

✨ Dried Lupine Seeds — the Golden Termis of the Mediterranean

Lupine is known in Arabic and Darija as الترمس (Termis, also written Tirmis or Termes) and, in its unsweetened natural state, as الترمس المر, bitter lupine. In French it is lupin or lupin blanc, in Italian lupini, in Spanish altramuces, and in English also lupin or lupini beans. Its scientific name is Lupinus albus, the white lupin. The dried seeds are flat and rounded, a little squared at the edges, with a smooth, creamy beige skin and a small dark mark where each seed was attached to its pod. Split open, the seed shows a bright golden-yellow inside. Dry, they are hard and very bitter; properly prepared, they turn firm, juicy and pleasantly nutty.

🌿 Traditional and Cultural Uses

Lupine is one of the oldest legumes of the Mediterranean: it was eaten in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, and it is still a favourite of the Arab world today. In Morocco, Egypt and the Levant, cones of salted termis sold from street carts are a classic snack of promenades, beaches and evenings out, and in Egypt termis is part of the spring festival of Sham el-Nessim. In Arab folk tradition, a small spoonful of ground bitter lupine was taken with water by people watching their blood sugar, and it was also given to expel intestinal worms. Grandmothers mixed lupine flour into face masks to brighten the complexion and fade dark spots, and used it as a natural hair and body wash in the hammam.

🍵 How to Use

• 🧂 As a snack: prepare as below, then eat with salt, cumin, lemon or chilli
• 🥗 In salads: add prepared lupine to tomato, onion and parsley salads or grain bowls
• 🫒 As a mezze: serve with olives and pickles alongside tea or before a meal
• 🥣 As a flour: once the seeds are fully debittered, dry them and grind them finely to mix into doughs and flatbreads
• 🧴 As a face mask: mix ground lupine with water or yoghurt into a paste, apply, then rinse off

🥣 Preparation: Homemade Salted Termis

1. Rinse 250g of dried lupine seeds and soak them in plenty of cold water for 24 hours.
2. Drain, cover with fresh water and boil until the seeds are tender.
3. Drain again and soak the seeds in cold water for several days, often four to seven, changing the water twice a day.
4. Taste one seed each day: the lupine is ready when the bitterness has gone.
5. Keep the seeds in lightly salted water in the fridge, and serve with salt, ground cumin and a squeeze of lemon. Pop each seed out of its skin with your fingers to eat it.

🧾 Ingredients

100% dried lupine seeds (Lupinus albus). Nothing added.

🔬 Product Profile

• 🌱 Plant: Lupinus albus, legume family (Fabaceae)
• 🌍 Grown around the Mediterranean, including North Africa
• 🫘 Form: dried seeds, mostly whole with their natural skin, with some split halves

📦 How We Sell Them

Dried, natural lupine seeds, available in 100g, 250g, 500g, 1kg, 2kg, 3kg and 5kg.

⚠️ Usage Note

Dried lupine is naturally very bitter and is not eaten dry: always soak, boil and rinse it as described above until the bitterness has gone. People allergic to peanuts or other legumes should avoid it.

🌤️ Storage

Keep the dried seeds in a sealed jar or pouch in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and humidity. Stored well, they keep for about a year. Once prepared, keep the lupine in salted water in the fridge and eat it within about a week.