Broad beans - Embracing the bean
They’ve been gracing tables since around 6000BC, appear on altars and in feasts for St Joseph’s Day and they deserve a better culinary press.
The fava or broad bean is somewhat misunderstood, unless you grew up savouring their uses. They seem to arrive in a spring rush in greengrocers and markets only to disappear a few weeks later. And, for those less familiar with their versatility, we’ve all had the “fava experience.”
That is, if the tenderest and freshest pods have come our way they are a delight. But, the older they get the tougher they get and a fiddly, double exercise of getting them out of the pods and then skinning the beans ensues. This requires patience and fingernails and a seemingly endless process until there’s enough to make it all worthwhile.
It is a perfect example of how a little bit of knowledge can take you a long way and produce some memorable times at the table. Picture for a moment selecting the first, fresh fava beans to arrive. The beans are about the size of a five cent piece and their skins are soft enough to eat. Put the unshelled beans, pods and all, in a green mound in the centre of the table. Sit a wedge of pecorino romano cheese next to them, a loaf of crusty bread and pour glasses of a crisp white wine. Your guests or family pluck their own beans out of the pods and alternate eating them with a nibble of cheese and bread. It’s simple, sociable, delicious and traditional.
And, as you’d expect with a crop that has been recorded as being cultivated since 6000BC, the uses don’t stop at the steamed or boiled side vegetable department. They appear in purees, soups, salads, stews, fritters, with pasta and in risottos.
It is the fava bean’s reputation for being able to withstand tough weather conditions, including low temperatures, that has seen it gain a place in history. Because of their cold tolerance, the first crops are ready for harvest in mid-spring and a second crop planted in early spring will come on stream in mid to late summer.
But, in many parts of Italy, they are more than merely food. This is particularly the case in Sicily. In the middle ages, a crippling drought hit the island, wiping out the crops. Sicilians prayed to patron saint, St Joseph, for rain. St Joseph had been established as Italy’s patron saint in Rome since 1479 and this had been extended to other parts of the Roman Rite in 1629. The rain came to Sicily, the fava bean crop was the only one salvaged and the islanders staved off starvation. A feast in St Joseph’s honour has been held since. On St Joseph’s Day – 19 March – fava beans are included on the altars of Sicilian churches and at least one fava bean dish will appear at the feasts.
On 1 May in Italy, you will also find Roman families enjoying the first of the fava beans in that simple mound on the table with pecorino romano and bread, but head north and they will tell you they’re best used as animal fodder. Unless that is, the northern location is Liguria, where the freshest beans will again appear with pecorino romano or local salami.