SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #135

[Shayne & Trudi Lynch]

In a message dated 97-06-03 19:17:19 EDT, you write:

<< 
 I grew them as a project this year to see how they would do in our somewhat
 warm and humid climate (Central Ansteorra) but got them into the ground
 late for a heavy crop.  They are still producing so I will have a small but
 hearty seed crop for next year, since I started with just a few.  There is
 not as much information on growing them as regular dry beans or green
 beans.  Most of what I found were British publications.  They are a very
 pretty plant -- the flowers are white and purplish black. I have a couple
 of catalogs at home that sell seeds if you want to try them.  Taste wise
 the dry beans have a floury texture, I like.  There are several Roman
 recipes featuring favas that are very good so you might check them out.
         You can get fava beans at health food stores as well as  specialty
 and eastern markets.
 
 Clare St. John
  >>
      Here in Meridies our climate is a similar hot-and-humid to yours, and
I've not had much sucess with them so far. Mind you I haven't ever managed to
get them in as early as I probably should, either, but still........ There
are a number of catalogs with at least one variety, and a few with many. They
are often found with the cover crops, too, as they work very well in that
capacity. One of these years I'm going to use them like that---plant them in
the fall to mature over the winter. But I would, of course, wait until I've
harvested a crop from them before tilling the plants under! ;-)
      We have a very nice Indian (Plus a few other cultures as well) grocery
that carries not only two kinds of dried favas, but canned fresh favas as
well! If I didn't live on the other end of town, I'd do a huge amount of my
shoping there. Such a wonderful place...........
      It might be worth mentioning for those who haven't heard before, that
some folks of Mediterranean descent have a genetic allergy to favas. This
makes them a bit risky to serve to large groups, like a feast, since favas
are uncommon enough that many people don't even know what they are, much less
whether or not they can eat them safely.

    Ldy Diana