What are Fava Beans all About?
What Are Fava Beans?
Fava beans grow in big, bumpy green pods on an easy-to-grow flowering pea plant that is harvested in the spring. Inside the cushy pods are large, flat, bright green beans with a tough, clear skin that is typically removed before eating. The labor-intensive process of preparing fava beans may have attributed to the legume's slow rise to popularity in America, a country full of bean options. Sought out by chefs and veggie lovers, fava beans are more expensive than your average fresh or dried bean.
How to Cook With Fava Beans
Small, young pods can sometimes be eaten whole, but beans are typically removed from the pod. Beans are shelled by snapping the stem end off of the pod and pulling the attached string. Pop out the beans and repeat with the remaining pods. Fresh, shelled fava beans are often blanched to make removing the tough clear skin easier. To peel the blanched beans, use your thumb to pop open the top of the skin at the bean's dimple and remove. Once the prep work is out of the way, the beans can be used as is or cooked further, depending on the recipe. Fava beans can be eaten raw, boiled, steamed, stewed, mashed, sautéed, fried, or roasted.
Check out this week’s featured fava recipe for specific blanching and simple prep instructions:
Mashed Fava Bean Toasts
History
Fava Beans or Broad Beans, Vicia faba, is the largest of the commonly eaten legumes, and was the only bean known to Europe until the discovery of the New World. It apparently originated in west or central Asia, and was among the earliest domesticated plants. Larger cultivated forms have been found in mediterranean sites dating to 3000 BCE. There are several sizes, the largest of which seems to have been developed in the Mediterranean region around 50 CE. China is the world’s largest producer.
Fava beans are unusual in having a thick, tough seed coat that’s often removed from both the meaty cotyledons of the unripe green seeds and from the hard dry seeds. A blanching in alkaline water loosens and softens the coat. In Egypt, the popular dish called ful medames is made by boiling the mature beans until soft, then flavoring with salt, lemon juice, oil, and garlic.