Fava Beans

Of all the beans in all the world, I love the fava bean best, particularly when just picked straight from the garden and still tiny, with no need to remove the outer layer of rather gray skin that forms later. I think fava beans are the best vegetable in the world, served simply boiled and anointed with butter and a sprinkling of parsley. Absolute heaven.

Strangely enough, you can eat the leaves of the young beans - they have exactly the same taste and make a nice little garnish to add to grills or fish. There are, of course, many ways to use older fava beans, which still have a good flavor, although not the beauty and fragrance of the baby ones. Soup can be made from the pods, using the cooking water for the stock and blending the cooked pods to a purée or putting them through a sieve or food mill. The addition of ham stock gives an even better flavor, and a generous amount of cream stirred in at the end makes a particularly fine soup, either hot or cold.