These beans have only one thing in common with green beans and that is the colour of the pod. Unlike their cousins, however, they need to be podded before being eaten. This is a very pleasant exercise because as the finger enters the pod it touches the soft velvety, almost woolly, padding inside in which the beans are embedded.
Broad bean plants grow up to a metre high, first producing a wonderfully white flower and then the fruit - the pod with the beans inside. Broad beans are a very old food indeed, taken up by the Romans after they were introduced to them by the Egyptians. For a long time they were the only beans eaten in Italy, and then mostly by peasants. Now the broad bean is eaten and cultivated with much enthusiasm all over Italy, although the main area of growth is in the warmer south.