Habas Espanolas

Broad beans or fava beans are called haba espanolas in Spanish. Have you noticed everything sounds so much more interesting in Spanish than in English? HMMMMM. Habas españolas (Spanish fava or broad beans) are among the oldest cultivated legumes in the Mediterranean, dating back thousands of years before spreading widely across the Iberian Peninsula and into traditional regional dishes.

Fava beans were first grown in both Southeast Asia and North Africa. From there they spread and were popular in Egypt and Greece, where they have been farmed for over 4000 years. The Ancient Romans brought them to Spain and their popularity grew from there. By the 16th century, fava beans were found all throughout Spain. They became the food of the peasants everywhere, and had their own regional accents everywhere they were found. They are especially popular in Southern Spain, which is also the home of bullfighting. Broad beans were fed to the fighting bulls to build them up.

Habas Espanolas

I made my own version of habas espanolas the other day. I didn’t have fava beans, but I had fresh green beans as well as a few beans from Julia’s garden, so those were what I used. The combination turned out just fine. 🙂 Sometimes you just have to improvise.

olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 garlic clove, sliced very thin

2 oz bacon, diced

8oz fava or broad beans, or green beans

1 tsp paprika

1 TBSP sherry

salt & pepper to taste

butter

Get a skillet very hot, then add the olive oil, onions, garlic and bacon and cook until the bacon is crisp, for about 5 minutes.

Add the beans and paprika and cook for about 1 minute.

Add the sherry and the salt & pepper. Once the flames die down, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook for about 5-10 minutes.

Finish with a little butter and serve. Pretty easy-peasy and very delicious. 🙂

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