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Broad Beans vary in shape and colour, the most commonly-sold ones being brown. They grow in large pods that hold around 5 beans per pod.
You can generally buy them fresh and still in the pod, or podded and dried. Young beans can be cooked in their pod and eaten pod and all, or you can pod them, and serve them uncooked in salads or antipasti. As the beans get older later in the season, each bean must be "shelled", plus have the skin removed on each bean. The beans are similar in shape and texture to Lima beans, without being as starchy.
Some people consider these the meatiest-tasting beans.
Cooking Tips
Older beans, indicated by a black line on them, are better when the toughened skin on each bean has been removed. First, remove the beans from the pods, then blanch the beans in boiling water for 1 minute. After this, the tough skin around the individual beans will slip off more easily by pinching the beans.
Simmer on stove for two to three hours, or pre-soak for 12 hours and pressure cook for 25 minutes.
When you are cooking them with other items (stews or casseroles, for instance), allow a longer cooking time than you would for other beans. Never salt the water when boiling as it will toughen the skin.
Broadbeans do not mash easily; when mashing, use either a food processor or a mortar and pestle.
Nutrition
Per 1 cup (170g), boiled: calories 185, protein 13g, Fat .7g, Thiamine .165mg, Folate 175mcg. Fresh beans also contain riboflavin and Vitamin C
Some people of Mediterranean descent are allergic to mature Broad Beans, so it would be wise to try just a few initially. Apparently people with Parkinson's Disease will want to consult a physician before adding Broad Beans to their diets.
Equivalents
1 pound (450g) = 45 - 55 beans, podded
1 pound (450g) of fresh, unpodded Broad Beans = 3 oz (90g) of podded, frozen Broad Beans
1 cup cooked = 170g = 6 oz
Storage
To freeze, shell older Broad Beans or cut young bean pods into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Blanch for 2 minutes, plunge into cold water to cool quickly, pack and freeze for up to 12 months. To use, cook from frozen in boiling water for 5 to 8 minutes.
History
The ancient Egyptians used Broad Beans, as did the Greeks and Romans. There is a surviving recipe for a purée of Broad Beans with cumin, coriander, olive oil and liquamen (the fish sauce that Romans were passionate about). The Italians still make a broad bean purée called "favetta".
One account of the death of the Ancient Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, has him being caught by a mob at the edge of a Broad Bean field, which he was too terrified to enter to escape through. Some have theorized that he may have been allergic to the beans, and even have developed a pathological fear of them in general. This may have been why, they hypostulate, why he taught his followers to avoid all beans in general.
Literature & Lore
The ancient Greeks considered Broad Beans unlucky. The letter from the alphabet, theta, which looks like this θ, was the first letter of their word for death, "thanatos". Greek juries would just mark θ on their ballots when they were voting to condemn a prisoner to death. Broad Beans got associated with this, and thus the association with being unlucky, because the Greeks thought that the markings on the plants leaves resembled θ. No doubt the fact that some Mediterranean people are allergic to Broad Beans helped this death association along.
In Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, "soupe aux gourganes" (Broad Bean soup) is a local specialty.
Also called:  Broad Beans
Broadbeans
English Bean
Faba Beans
Fava Beans
Horse Bean
Windsor Bean Vicia faba (Scientific Name) Fayot, Féveroles, Fève des marais, Gourgane (French) Ackerbohnen, Dicke Bohnen, Pferdebohnen, Puffbohnen, Saubohnen (German) Fava (Italian) Habas (Spanish) Faba (Roman)
See Also
Favetta
Other entries for Beans
Adzuki Beans, Anasazi Beans, Apache Beans, Appaloosa Beans, Aramis Beans, Aunt Emma's Beans, Baccicia Beans, Baked Beans, Bayo Beans (Louisiana), Black Beans, Black Nightfall Beans, Bleu du Lac St-Jean Beans, Broad Beans, Brown Rice Beans, Bush Beans, Canary Beans, Chana Dal, Chickashaw Beans, Chickpeas, Chinese Long Bean, Cow-Itch Beans, Cowpeas, Cranberry Beans, Crochu de Savoie Beans, Dainagon Beans, Dolico Veneto Beans, Dragon Tongue Beans, Dry Beans, European Soldier Beans, Falcon Rice Beans, Flageolet Beans, Flor de Junio Beans, Flor de Mayo Beans, Fortin Family Beans, Fradinho Beans, French Fillet Beans, Garboncito Beans, Garrofo Beans, Good Mother Stallard Beans, Great Northern Beans, Green Beans, Green Flageolet Beans, Green Rice Beans, Hopi Black Pinto Beans, Jackson Wonder Beans, Kahnawake Mohawk Beans, Kunde Beans, Lablab Beans, Lima Beans, Lupini Beans, Madeira Beans, Magpie Beans, Mexican Bayo Beans, Moth Beans, Mung Beans, Navy Beans, Nodak Beans, Pebble Beans, Peruano Beans, Pigeon Peas, Pink Beans, Pinto Beans, Pole Beans, Rattlesnake Beans, Red Ball Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Red Nightfall Beans, Refugee Beans, Rice Beans (Asian), Rice Beans, Rio Zappe Beans, Romano Beans, Runner Beans, Sangre de Toros Beans, Sator Beans, Seluga Beans, Shelling Beans, Soybeans, Tarahumara Canario Beans, Tepary Beans, Tiger's Eye Beans, Tolosana Beans, Toscanelli Beans, Trout Beans, Tweed Wonder Beans, Vallarta Beans, Wax Beans, Wild Goose Beans, Winged Beans, Witkiem Beans, Zolfino Pratomagno Beans
Other entries for Legumes
Lentils, Peas
Related Recipes
Watercress and Broadbean Pesto
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