FAVA BEANS
The 6th century B.C. philosopher Pythagoras condemned the fava bean and would not let his followers eat it. It was thought that they contained the souls of the dead.
The cultivation of fava beans is so old that there is no known wild form of this bean. It has been used in Chinese cooking for at least 5,000 years.
The fava bean, also known as faba bean, horse bean and broad bean, was the only bean known in Europe until the discovery of the New World.
There is a hereditary condition, Favism, which causes an allergic-like reaction to fava or broad beans. Those with this disorder can develop hemolytic anemia by eating the beans, or supposedly even by walking through a field where the plants are flowering.
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