'Maltese Ful' Fava Bean

Vicia faba Origin: Malta Improvement status: Unknown Seeds per packet: ~20 Germination tested 11/2023: 95% Life cycle: Annual or Biennial This fava bean came from a market in the Mediterranean island nation of Malta. Medium-sized and brown-green, this is a general-use fava bean. In Malta, fava beans are famously made into a traditional dip called "bigilla," though that dip is most often made from the smaller type of fava (known in Malta as "ful ta' Girba", after the Tunisian island of Djerba, from which Malta used to import most of its fava beans). As a seasonal delicacy, maltese people also mix fava beans like these with eggs and ricotta-like cottage cheese to make quiche-like pies called Torta tal-Irkotta. They're also used in soups, stews, risottos, and other recipes. Fava beans are not the only delicious part of the plant: the flowers, leaves, growing tips, and young pods are also edible and scrumptious, raw or cooked.EFN co-founder Nate Kleinman collected stock seeds in Malta and