Vegetable
Broad bean
HabaFavaVicia faba
You buy a kilo and end up with a handful: the pod weighs more than the beans. The first small, tender ones can even be eaten raw.
When
Around: Feb–May · At its best: Mar–Apr
Around: Jan–May · At its best: Mar–Apr
Around: Aug–Nov · At its best: Sept–Oct
Around here
Faves a la catalana is the springtime dish: broad beans stewed with black botifarra sausage, pancetta, spring onion and mint, sometimes with a splash of rancio wine or anise. In Catalonia broad beans are sown in autumn and picked from February to May.
At the market
- Green, firm, glossy pods, with no black spots or dried-out bits.
- You should feel the beans, but the pod shouldn't be swollen like a balloon: big beans, floury beans.
- If you can, open one: the bean should be pale green and the inside of the pod like damp cotton wool.
- Do the maths: a kilo of pods gives about 250-300 grams of beans.
At home
- In the fridge and still in the pod, in a paper or cloth bag.
- Shell them just before cooking.
- They last three or four days, but each day they lose a little sweetness.
If you have too much
- Freeze them: shelled, blanched for two minutes, cooled in iced water and dried well. They keep for about eight months.
- If they're big, slip each bean out of its skin after blanching: they end up finer and greener.
- Cook a big pot of faves a la catalana and freeze it in portions.
In the kitchen
- Raw, if they're very young, with salt, ham or a fresh cheese.
- Faves a la catalana, with black botifarra, pancetta and mint.
- Sautéed with green garlic and an egg on top.
- Skinned and crushed with oil, lemon and mint, to spread on bread.
- In a menestra with artichokes and peas.
- In a rice dish or a spring omelette.
“Broad beans get boiled everywhere”: every household has its troubles.
What it brings
Per 100 g, raw.
- Energy
- 72 kcal
- Water
- 81% water
- Carbs
- 11.7 g
- Fibre
- 4.2 g
- Protein
- 5.6 g
Stands out for
- High in folate96 µg · 48% of what you need in a day
- High in vitamin C33 mg · 41% of what you need in a day
- Source of fibre4.2 g
Data from the USDA (FoodData Central). See the full table ↗ · How we decide what stands out
Goes with
- PeaFeb–MayAs soon as it leaves the plant, its sugar starts turning into starch. That's why a freshly shelled one tastes of something else: sweet, almost like fruit.
- ArtichokeNov–MayIt's a flower bud eaten before it opens. It also leaves a sweet aftertaste that makes water, or wine, taste different straight afterwards.
- AsparagusMar–JunWhite and green asparagus are the same plant: the white kind grows buried in soil and never sees the sun. The thin, bitter one that pops up wild along field edges is another species.
- CalçotDec–AprAn onion made to grow twice: the bulb is replanted and earthed up until it sends out long white shoots. You eat them charred black outside, wearing a bib and standing up.