Agatha Bertram Travels

Travels with my aunt and some others

  • Remarkable
    • Communities
    • Exploits and Expeditions
    • Food
    • People
  • Africa & Middle East
  • Americas
  • Asia
    • India
    • Japan
    • Vietnam
  • Australia
  • Europe
    • France
  • Useful
    • Books
    • Events
    • Health
    • Travel
  • About
    • AKA Agatha Bertram
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

Tis the season for fèves

March 4, 2015 by AggieB 14 Comments

IMG_2240In which I take you through the development of my relationship with broad beans, and conclude with a bonus recipe at the end!

Children are given things to do as trainer projects, at least in my experience of being a child.   In my case scones, pikelets and scrambled eggs where the first things that I can remember cooking.   I was taught to knit and the first thing that I knitted was a scarf – with only one stitch. Success is more likely than failure.  In the garden I was shown how to plant geraniums, pumpkins and broad beans.

These are prolific plants and hard to kill. With geraniums you break a bit off and put it into a pot with dirt in it. With both broad beans and pumpkins you can take seeds from the food as it is prepared / eaten, dry the seeds on the kitchen window sill and then either put the seeds into a pot outside the back door or straight into the vege garden. Make sure the ground is moist when they finally go into the vege garden and then walk away and come back in about six weeks to make sure they’re still growing.   After about four months there is enough produce to feed you and all your neighbours.

But the problem is that pumpkin and broad beans are disgusting, or so I thought for the first 85% (1) of my life.

I learned to enjoy pumpkin, most recently in roast pumpkin soup with garlic, nutmeg and a hint of paprika. But I steered clear of broad beans. I regarded them basically as a weed and would no more eat broad beans than I would those paddy melons that grow on the edge of the road and look terrific but are so bitter they are inedible.   And probably poisonous.

Then last year I came to France.03032015 feve

I was at the local vege shop, marking off my errands between the boucherie (butcher), the fromagerie (cheese), and the boulongerie (baguettes). I was struggling not buy a sample of each vegetable because it all looked so good until I saw … a big display of …. BROAD BEANS. Yuck! !! Only in French they are called fèves.

I was in the same northern hemisphere recipe season as a U.S. blog that I’d just started following (Kitchn) and they had featured a lesson on how to prepare fava beans. In the picture they looked like edamame, which is a Japanese preparation of soy beans and given the chance and a beer I could eat about my own body weight of them.

Connecting the dots, I guessed that fèves are the same thing as fava beans which are the same thing as broad beans, and I bought some.

Its bit like ‘cabretta’ and goat. Cabretta sound fabulous and I would choose it over something else at a restaurant but goat, like paddy melons, sounds like road kill.

So it turns out that the way to prepare BROAD BEANS is to, obviously, take them out of their pods but then cook them in salty boiling water for about three minutes, cool them in icy cold water and then peel them. The beans have a protective outer layer which is pretty waxy and they taste really good if you take that outer skin off.   And they look like edamame – actually taste a bit like it as well.

Who knew! I’d better tell Mum.

Back in Australia and in summer, I found a recipe for broad beans with brown rice and in case you are interested in the taste revolution this is it with minimum complications :

Fèves and Brown Rice Salad

Serves 3

250g Broad (Fava) Beans (frozen, or fresh in season & peeled)140215 feve and wild rice salad
1 clove garlic
1tbspn olive oil
½ tspn of ground cumin
150ml vegetable or chicken stock
250g cooked microwave brown rice, or half to a third of a cup of uncooked brown rice.
A few tablespoons of wild rice – not too much!
6tbspn chopped mixed herbs – parsley, coriander, chives, mint but mainly parsley
Juice of ½ lemon
A quantity of rocket leaves

So note the roughly equal amounts of broad beans and cooked rice.

Equal amounts of cooked rice and broad beans.   Less rather than more stock, if there is no measuring cup. I’m a bit light on implements and space in a small apartments and don’t have anything to measure with. (150m = 10 tbspns).

Put the beans in a pan with the garlic, oil, spices and the stock. Bring to a simmer, half cover and cook for 10-12 minutes.

Check on the instructions, but you might need to boil wild rice for about ten minutes before adding brown rice.
Cook the rice, according to pack instructions, & tip into a bowl.

Add the beans with the stock left in the pan, then mix in the herbs and seasoning. Add the lemon juice.   Top with rocket leaves.

(1)  Not an exact calculation.

  • Tweet
  • Share 0
  • Reddit
  • +1
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn 0

Filed Under: Food, France

Comments

  1. Betty Carlson says

    March 5, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    Even after living in France for nearly 25 years, I have not developed much fondness for fava beans. They are pretty though.

    Thank you for your comment on my blog! I love the #AllAboutFrance link-up idea!

    Reply
    • AggieB says

      March 6, 2015 at 8:55 am

      Hi Betty, my memories of broad beans as a child are terrible. Mum was pretty good and didn’t make me eat them, but it was disappointing when they are so easy to grow! I look forward to more of your blogs.

      Reply
  2. Kathy says

    March 6, 2015 at 10:13 am

    I heart fava beans.. one day will make you some Arabic ‘Foul Medammes’ mmmm

    Reply
    • AggieB says

      March 6, 2015 at 3:09 pm

      Nom, nom. The dried ones with lots of salt! I’ve just cooked a new batch this afternoon, not dried but still with lots of salt. Mmmm :). Foul Medammes hahaha.

      Reply
  3. Kym says

    March 7, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    Well Agram

    Reply
    • AggieB says

      March 7, 2015 at 5:37 pm

      Hahahaha! Excellent name.

      Reply
  4. Phoebe @ Lou Messugo says

    March 11, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    I hated broad beans as a kid, for me they were bitter cardboard but I love them now. I don’t know why they were so bad back in the 70s in England – surely it wasn’t the way my mum prepared them?!! But now I regularly cook with them IN SEASON of course (or occasionally frozen) and even my kids like them.

    Reply
  5. Caro says

    April 4, 2015 at 6:40 am

    Good to meet you on #AllaboutFrance link up. Check out my post on the link up if you like the feves now as I made an apero cake with them! And in Picard in France you can buy them frozen and ready shelled!

    Reply
    • AggieB says

      April 18, 2015 at 6:48 am

      Good to meet you too Caro. I’ll definately look up the receipe for apero cake. Tho’ I’m in India for the next couple of months for work. I think I should be able to get frozen feve in St Etienne as well so will give it a try when I’m back. Thanks for reading the blog.

      Reply
  6. Caro says

    April 4, 2015 at 8:23 am

    I love feves since living in France. great post. Good to be linked up on #AllAboutFrance. You can buy de-shelled feves frozen in Picard! Take a look at my link on #AllAboutFrance linked up page for a recipe for Apero cake using feves!

    Reply
  7. Diane says

    April 4, 2015 at 1:53 pm

    I’m like every one else, hated them when I was you but after living in France for a while i’ve grown to like them. Your recipe looks great.

    Reply
    • AggieB says

      April 18, 2015 at 6:51 am

      Thanks Diane. Have you heard about the 5:2 diet? I was doing it for a few months last year and looking for low calorie meals and that one came up. Trouble is eating only a small quantity!

      Reply
  8. Lisa says

    April 15, 2015 at 7:47 am

    I wonder why these beans are so child “unfriendly”! I love them now that I am an “old duck” – and have copied your recipe and looking forward to lunch! I think there is something lovely about ‘popping the fresh ones out of their skins’ – tiny, bright green and new!
    By the way, one of my favourite shops in Suffolk [UK] is Aggie B !!

    Reply
    • AggieB says

      April 18, 2015 at 6:53 am

      Hi Lisa, thanks for dropping by! Yes – isn’t it strange that they are so unpopular with children. Aggie B – great minds ;).

      Reply

Leave a Reply to AggieB Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to receive periodic wraps of the most popular posts.

Search

Thought for today

Follow the trip that Gandalf and Co did over the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, with a view of the volcanic landscapes and Mt Ngauruhoe which featured as ‘Mt Doom’.   Not far from Mt Doom is beautiful Lake Taupo

New Zealand, Feb 2022

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

#Aggiebtravels

aggiebtravels

The custard apple lady, Hyderabad #incredibleindia The custard apple lady, Hyderabad #incredibleindia #exoticfruit
Mohammed Bin Rashid Library #dubai #booklovers # Mohammed Bin Rashid Library  #dubai  #booklovers #firsteditionbooks
Spending some quality time with the fam - Denmark Spending some quality time with the fam - Denmark on the south coast of west Australia @discoverdenmarkwa
Instagram post 17983434584134993 Instagram post 17983434584134993
Buildings in Bucharest - we were given cake at chu Buildings in Bucharest - we were given cake at churches because it was (still) Easter, saw the statue of King Karel I who was a German Prince, invited by the Romanians to be King, and finally the Houses of Parliament, second biggest government building after the Pentagon.  Built by President Ceaucescu while the economy was in tatters. 

#bucharest #romania #trekkup #trekkupdubai
A day in the life - Transnistria. We had lots mcg A day in the life - Transnistria.  We had lots mcg with the lady in the first pic, one of the few remaining statues of Lenin, market shopping and a memorial to people who died at Chernobyl #transnistria #tiraspol #moldova #trekkup
Meeting a monk today who has lived in a cave for t Meeting a monk today who has lived in a cave for the last 20 years, outside Chișinău in Moldova.
Walking in the Wadi Abadilah. Taking advantage of Walking in the Wadi Abadilah.  Taking advantage of the winter weather ! #uae
Starting the new year with an early morning run 🏃‍♀️ #dubaicanal
Attack birds - photo of a stranger. #gnarabup #we Attack birds - photo of a stranger.  #gnarabup #westernaustralia
Family time in Perth (and south). Family time in Perth (and south).
80,000 people, a drinks break and a light show at 80,000 people, a drinks break and a light show at the MCG.  The final match of the Men's Cricket T20 World Cup.  #PAKvENG
I have so many memories associated with manual sco I have so many memories associated with manual scoreboard day in cricket.  Now a new one - Adelaide Oval #MT20worldcup
Perth by night #perthstadium Perth by night #perthstadium
Southbank, rain on the way! #Melbourne. Southbank, rain on the way!  #Melbourne.
Thanks to @vavien75 and Pierre for their hospitali Thanks to @vavien75 and Pierre for their hospitality in Bretagne BZH.  Overnight in St Malo before a ferry back to Jersey and a flight back to Dubai.  As I was flying out, I thought at first that Guernsey was really big, before I realized it was France 🇫🇷 😂😂
Last day in Jersey. What a beautiful place ! #ch Last day in Jersey.  What a beautiful place !  #channelislands #wartunnels #elizabethcastle
Jersey in the morning. Elizabeth Castle, St Helie Jersey in the morning.  Elizabeth Castle, St Helier #jersey #channelislands
Walking rescue dogs in the UAE #straydogscenterua Walking rescue dogs in the UAE

#straydogscenteruae
Still a big fan of yarn bombers. Saw this little Still a big fan of yarn bombers.  Saw this little outcrop in Wellington.  #newzealandlife

#yarnbombing
Load More Follow on Instagram

#allaboutfrance

Lou Messugo

Affiliates

Web Hosting

Categories

Africa & Middle East Americas Asia Australia Books Communities Equipment Europe Events Exploits and Expeditions Food France General Health India India Japan Japan Markets Movies New Zealand Oman People Remarkable Snapshots St Etienne Travel Uncategorised Useful Vietnam

Archives

  • July 2023 (2)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • November 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (2)
  • July 2018 (1)
  • June 2018 (1)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (2)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • May 2017 (2)
  • April 2017 (1)
  • March 2017 (2)
  • February 2017 (2)
  • January 2017 (1)
  • November 2016 (2)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • July 2016 (4)
  • June 2016 (3)
  • May 2016 (2)
  • April 2016 (2)
  • March 2016 (3)
  • February 2016 (3)
  • January 2016 (2)
  • December 2015 (3)
  • October 2015 (1)
  • September 2015 (1)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (5)
  • June 2015 (3)
  • April 2015 (2)
  • March 2015 (5)
2016 03 bike_white

Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions

All content, layouts, designs, and graphics are my own unless otherwise noted. Logo and Illustrations by Ignacio Brito
2016 03 suitcase_white

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in