The beans can be eaten young and tender (like Italy), so picked in mid-spring on indoor plantations in winter, or in mid-late summer in spring sown outdoors.
The horse beans are left to ripen completely and are harvested in autumn.
The leaf buds of the plant can be eaten raw or cooked similarly to spinach.
The some ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean basin, the broad beans represented a very important food, above all for the Romans and for the ancient Greeks.
The preparation of the beans consists in removing the seeds from the pod, which are pre-cooked in order to soften and eliminate the external coating.
The seeds of the beans can also be fried and then salted or spiced; in this way, precooking is not necessary because the peel breaks equally. This snack is very popular especially in China, Malaysia, Colombia, Peru ( habas saladas ), Guatemala (f habas ), Mexico ( habas con chile ), Northern Iran and Thailand.
In some Arab countries, the broad bean is used to make a breakfast dish called ful medames .
In Latin American cuisine, broad beans are widely used. In Central Mexico, mashed beans are a filling for many antojito snacks made from corn flour, such as tlacoyos . In Colombia, broad beans are often included in vegetable soups. Furthermore, as mentioned above, dry and salty ones are a popular snack in many Latin countries.
Broad beans are widely grown in the Kech and Panjgur districts of Balochistan province, Pakistan, and in the eastern province of Iran. They are called bakalaink in the balochi language and baghalee in Persian.
