Fava Beans

For Jay: food.

I wish the other three people on the planet who like these things would write to me so we can start a support group. I buy a big bagful from Mr Lee on Atlantic Avenue, shell them into a pan, add some water, a bunch of mint, and some dill if I have it, squeeze a lime over and clap a lid on. Bring them to the boil, lower the heat and simmer till tender. Then I add salt and pepper. And a slosh of olive oil. I take the beans out, and reduce the liquid that is left until is quite creamy, then pour over. My idea of green heaven. And I LIKE the skins. When I was little, and my mother grew rows of them in Bloemfontein, I would eat them with my fingers at table and pop them out of their skins into my mouth, then eat the skins separately. I was not a well child.