SC - contests, cooking, and music
Stephen Bloch
sbloch at adl15.adelphi.edu
Fri Jun 6 08:56:31 PDT 1997
Lord Ras writes:
> Fava beans are quite similar to lima beans in taste and texture only somewhat
> stronger. I would coution those of Mediterranean descent to be careful if you
> have not eaten these before. People of Mediterranean descent can have
> allergic reactions to these beans. It is not deadly but is extremely
> unpleasant. People of non-mediterranean descent are not known to have this
> reaction.
It's not technically an "allergic" reaction, but for practical purposes
cooks should probably treat it as one. The condition, a genetically-
based hemolysis reaction (and no, I don't remember what symptoms that
implies) to some compound in fava beans, is called "favism". I looked
it up in one of my grandfather's medical books a few years ago.
Apparently it appears mostly in two ethnic populations: a mild form in
blacks (probably from a specific part of Africa, but I don't remember)
and a more severe form in people of Mediterranean descent, particularly
Sephardic Jews.
mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
Stephen Bloch
sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu
http://www.adelphi.edu/~sbloch/
Math/CS Dept, Adelphi University
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