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• Readily available in fresh, frozen, canned, or dried varieties, fava beans are legumes native to Northern Africa and Southern Asia, although they are now cultivated virtually worldwide.

  Valuable in many areas as a cover crop to prevent erosion since they will not die in the winter, fava beans grow in pods on bean stalks of average height. Before they are eaten, the beans must be removed from their leathery brown pods, and then from their waxy white skin.

  One of the oldest known cultivated crops, fava beans are prominent in many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes. Often served in salad, soup and stew, they can also be mashed and combined with spices to create dips and spreads.

• Fast Facts:

  1. Latin name: Vicia faba
  2. Also known as broad bean, horse bean, field bean or Windsor bean
  3. Season: Early summer
  4. Fava is Italian for bean
  5. The only beans eaten in Europe before the discovery of the new world
  6. Pop culture reference: Infamous Hannibal Lecter quote from The Silence of the Lambs

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Pasta | Cheese | Italian Food | Risotto | Lima Beans | Chianti

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