Fava beans are a taste of spring

Each individual bean must be separated from its waxy skin.
By JUDITH WEINRAUB
WASHINGTON POST
As vegetables go, fava beans are really old souls. Thought to have been eaten in biblical times and throughout the ancient world, favas are a traditional harbinger of spring. Pythagoras knew about them. So did the long-ago civilizations of Egypt and China. It's no surprise they've made their mark throughout the cuisines of the Mediterranean and Middle East. And for some years now, they've had starring roles on spring menus at the very best restaurants.
Like peas and lima beans, favas are legumes and first must be shelled from a pod. That's easy. What's much harder and more labor-intensive is separating them from the waxy skin that surrounds each individual bean -- unless they are really young, when they can be eaten raw.
Specifics
How to select: The older the beans, the thicker and tougher the skin. Frozen and canned favas are available all year long. But they can't compete with the fresh fava -- especially the small, young, sweet, pale green bean of early spring.
How to store: Don't bother. You'll want to prepare and eat the sweet, young fava beans of spring quickly.
How to prepare: Fava beans are extremely versatile. But first they must be removed from their pods as well as their individual outer casings -- either with a knife or by blanching them (plunging them into boiling water briefly, and then into ice water) so their skins will then slip off more easily. Young favas can be eaten raw in salads; gently cooked on their own as an accompaniment to roasts (especially lamb); combined with pastas or rice with Mediterranean or Middle Eastern herbs and spices; in soups; saut & eacute;ed with lots of garlic and often lemon and parsley; pureed on their own or with peas. Some chefs like to highlight the natural pale green color and gentle flavor of favas with other brighter, more assertive greens -- such as basil and olive oil, rosemary, tarragon and mint.
A caution: As exotic and desirable as fava beans may be, for some people with a hereditary condition known as favism (a genetic deficiency in the blood enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase), eating them can be very dangerous and in some cases even fatal.