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What is roveja?
Roveja is the name of a specific type of pea. The term peas refers to fruits (pods and seeds) or plants of the Fabaceae family (legumes), Genus Pisum, sativum species and subspecies sativum . The roveja, also called robiglio or pea of the fields, is a more precisely defined variety avense (variety).
Roveja belongs to the IV fundamental group of foods, as a nutritional source of complex carbohydrates, fibers and a large part of essential amino acids (the limiting essential amino acids are found in cereals). Robiglio is also rich in vitamins (especially water-soluble B-group) and specific minerals (iron, potassium, etc.).
In the kitchen, roveja is mainly used as an ingredient for first courses (soups, soups, etc.). Boiled or stewed is also an excellent side dish. Note : the dry or dehydrated pea before soaking requires a soak of several hours.
Originally from the Middle East, where the findings suggest its consumption since the Neolithic (Turkey - 7000 years ago), the roveja was subsequently spread almost all over Europe. In Italy the pea of the fields was cultivated abundantly until the beginning of the second half of the 1900s, after which it was almost completely replaced by more profitable crops such as, for example, corn, wheat, soya, common pea, etc. . Currently only a small slice of farmers can be found in the central peninsula (Marche and Umbria) which, by exploiting the fuel to diversify production or enrich the soil with nitrogen, manage to preserve the local tradition. In contrast, in other European countries such as the Netherlands, the field pea ( kapucijner or velderwt variety) still represents a highly respected crop.
Nutritional Properties
Nutritional properties of roveja
Roveja is a legume and, as such, is part of the IV fundamental group of foods.
Dry has a high caloric intake but lower than that of cereals and flour. Fresh instead, containing more water, it barely reaches 1/3 of the aforementioned energy value. Calories are mainly supplied by carbohydrates, followed by proteins and finally lipids. Carbohydrates tend to be complex, peptides with a medium biological value - they lack, albeit in part, lysine and methionine - and unsaturated fatty acids - with an excellent presence of the essential polyunsaturated omega 3 or alpha linolenic acid (ALA) and omega 6 or acid linoleic (AL).
Roveja is rich in fiber, soluble and insoluble, and does not provide cholesterol. On the contrary, like other legumes, it provides extremely precious plant sterols and lecithins with cholesterol-lowering action - phytosterols are also antioxidants. Roveja does not contain gluten, lactose or histamine. Purine levels are significant.
Fibers and lecithins are tendentially beneficial molecules, especially for people who eat according to the habits of the contemporary Western diet (rich in saturated fats, cholesterol, refined carbohydrate-based foods, refined sugars, etc.). This does not mean that these nutritional factors, if in excess, can also hinder normal intestinal absorption. Moreover, roveja also contains other unwanted molecules, as frankly anti-nutritional, such as: oxalic acid, phytic acid and peptidase inhibitors.
As far as vitamins are concerned, roveja is distinguished by a fair amount of some water-soluble of group B; for example, thiamine or vit B1, niacin or vit PP, riboflavin or B2 and pyridoxine or vit B6. The level of the fat-soluble vitamin E or alpha-tocopherol is also good.
Also with regard to minerals, roveja does not disappoint. The quantities of iron are excellent, although not very bioavailable, phosphorus, zinc and potassium.
Diet
Roveja in the diet
Roveja is suitable for most diets. It has no contraindication for the hypocaloric diet against overweight and for the therapeutic nutritional patterns towards the diseases of the spare. Obviously, in the case of severe obesity and - due to the high concentration of carbohydrates - in the case of uncompensated type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridemia, the portion must be adequate. On the contrary, as we will see later, they are to be considered useful even in cases of hypercholesterolemia and arterial hypertension.
The roveja, being less caloric than the most common ingredients for pasta dishes (cereals and derivatives), is ideal in the slimming diet. On the contrary, due to the abundance of fiber and anti-nutritional components, it does not lend itself to replacing the first courses of the high-calorie or otherwise very energetic regimes; an excess of anti-nutritional factors would be created.
deepening
Oxalic acid and phytic acid are real anti-nutrients that, by binding to minerals (iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc etc.), hinder their intestinal absorption. Fortunately, these are thermolabile and water-soluble factors. In legumes, being more abundant in the skin - especially oxalic acid - after soaking, most of these are dissolved in waste water. Moreover, since they are thermolabile factors, most of them are degraded by cooking. Also peptidase inhibitors, which bind to enzymes in the brush border of the intestine hindering the digestive action, are thermolabile and tend to be destroyed by cooking.
Note : cooking is however responsible for the degradation of useful nutrients such as, for example, vitamin C or ascorbic acid and folates.
The proteins, which "are qualitatively" of medium size, can be easily supplemented by combining or alternating roveja with cereals or oil seeds - a typical recipe is rice with peas. For this reason, legumes are very useful in the vegetarian but above all vegan diet. In need of cooking, they do not lend themselves to raw food diet.
The lipid fraction, due to the excellent percentage of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids (essential ALA and LA) and vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol or tocotrienol - antioxidant), as well as for the presence of phytosterols and lecithins, lends itself to clinical nutrition against certain metabolic pathologies: hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension. Also the fibers, reducing the glycemic index of the meal, as well as decreasing the absorption of fats and the reabsorption of bile salts, contribute to improving cholesterolemia.
Did you know that ...
Lecithins are hydrophilic and lipophilic molecules capable of moderating cholesterolemia through two distinct mechanisms: the first in the intestine, hindering the absorption of cholesterol and bile salts, the second at the systemic level, directly intervening on the metabolism of sterol.
Phytosterols, which also have an antioxidant capacity, as well as reducing general oxidative stress, are also able to reduce cholesterol levels by intervening on a systemic level.
The abundance of fibers makes the roveja a valid ally against constipation or constipation. At the same time, however, it makes it unsuitable for a low residual diet against diarrhea (for irritable bowel movements, dysentery, etc.). There are both soluble fibers, capable of modulating intestinal absorption (see above), and insoluble, responsible for the volumetric increase in faeces but, in combination with the nutritional agents of which we have already spoken, are involved in the onset of meteorism, flatulence and abdominal tension. Certain fibers are also prebiotic agents, that is, they are the nourishment of intestinal bacterial flora. Recall that bowel regularity is an essential factor for the prevention of bowel cancer.
The roveja is suitable for the diet of celiac, lactose intolerant and histamine. On the contrary, it does not lend itself to the diet for hyperuricemia and gout.
The abundance of B vitamins makes roveja an excellent source of coenzyme nutrients. The richness in iron instead, although not very bioavailable, is an essential quality for the nutritional regime against anemia. The potassium level is excellent, tending to lack in athletes and therapeutic in arterial hypertension. The concentration of zinc is also good, a powerful antioxidant. Phosphorus is an essential mineral both for bone metabolism and for the structure of nervous tissue.
The average portion of roveja as a side dish is 30 g dry and 90 g fresh, as a first course instead, it is 50 g dry and 150 g fresh.
Kitchen
How to cook roveja?
Roveja can be used fresh or dried. Fresh, the peas in the fields are sweet but do not taste the same as the common ones; they tend to be more intense, a peculiarity that is emphasized by drying. Dehydrated robiglio is a highly sought after ingredient for recipes such as traditional soups and soups from central Italy.
Dry roveja, before use, like most legumes requires a preliminary soak. Without this treatment, cooking would not be effective and homogeneous. Soaking is also useful for reducing the content of oxalates and phytates.
Some typical recipes based on rubiglio are: rovja soup (of which many versions are known, with different ingredients) and polenta di roveja or farecchiata.
Description
Description of the roveja
The roveja plant is almost identical to that of the common pea common in Italy. Climber and from the annual cycle, this herbaceous stands out in a decisive way only for the shade of the flowers, the pod and the seeds. The flowers are purple; those of the common pea instead are predominantly white. The pod instead, initially light green, then tends to darken up to the intense blue-violet. The same applies to the seeds which, from gray to fresh, turn dark brown.
There are mainly two cultivars of roveja: long stem and short stem. The latter is the most cultivated; in Holland, especially in Zeeland, in 2003, 700 hectares were used for the production of velderwt .
Cultivation
Notes on roveja cultivation
We have already said that in Italy the roveja is typical of the center, in particular of the Marche and Umbria regions (Valnerina, in Cascia).
Sowing takes place between the end of winter and the beginning of spring, usually in the month of March; the harvest is center-summer, in the month of July. Unlike the common pea, even at late maturation, the roveja does not become very powdery. The plants are mowed at the first yellowing of the leaves; they are left to dry and only at this point the seeds are extracted.
In Holland the cultivation of roveja is more laborious but effective. Sowing takes place between January and February, in a greenhouse; the strain is performed between March and April, before which the root is shortened in length - to stimulate lateral development. The low varieties do not exceed 75 cm, while the high ones reach 150-200 cm. The harvest takes place from mid-June to August.
Roveja only fears a viral disease, transmitted by alfalfa lice - the same pathology also affects common beans and peas.
