What's in Season: Fava Beans

Follow up to previous post...

Fava beans are also called broad beans, but the fava part comes from the Latin name faba.
Buying:

Storing: Can be kept in a bag for up to a week. Fava beans also freeze well, if washed then blanched for 3 minutes, they can be stored for up to 12 months.

Cooking: They are a pain in the butt to shell - like de-vaining shrimp, the worst! - but they are worth it. They are delicate and tender with a slightly nutty flavour. Fava beans look a bit like shell peas but are much larger and the beans inside are flat, almost like lima beans. They need to be added to boiled water, then re-boiled for a few minutes. Once they have been drained and cooled - drop them in a bowl of ice water if you want - the outer waxy film around the beans needs to be discarded - they will be bitter and fibrous. It is labour-intensive, but grab some friends and hang out in the kitchen for a while!

Medical: Lots of fiber, iron, potassium, Vitamin E and C. Low in cholesterol and sodium.

Fact: beans have a superstitious, uncertain past. They were often associated with the dead with the thought that the souls of dead people are within the beans. This may have something to do with beans causing people to pass wind.....but the real problem is favism, which a very small amount of people are susceptible to in which eating beans causing a slight poisoning - anaemia or jaundice.