Les Fèves

One of the oldest vegetables known to the region was the broad bean, its position only diminishing with the arrival of the haricot bean and the potato. In spite of this, broad beans are still widely grown and particularly esteemed in the Dordogne and the Périgord, where you will find a row or more in most potagers and where they are made into wonderful spring soups, ragoûts and purées.

Ideally, broad beans should be picked when they are so young that the pod is little thicker than your middle finger. At this size or smaller they are eaten pod and all, cooked round a joint after a preliminary blanching. Or the tiny beans are eaten raw as an hors d’oeuvre á la croquesel, out of their pod but just as they are, each one dipped into the salt cellar for a little seasoning. At this size they taste as sweet as peas. Left to grow larger, you may have to peel away the outer skin of the bean itself, which becomes coarse even after cooking although it does have a more concentrated flavour. If you peel off the outer skin after blanching for a minute or two, it is a simple operation. It is this skin which turns the liquid in which it is cooked a dark colour so some prefer to peel it off for this reason too. Several leaves of sorrel cooked with the beans will prevent this blackness. The French put a sprig of fresh sarriette (savory) in with broad beans to bring out the flavour while the English, not knowing this herb so well, use parsley. Sarriette is often found growing in among broad beans, looking like a tougher kind of tarragon. It is a pungent herb and should be used with caution.