Fava di Ustica
Ustica Fava Bean
Medium-sized and tender, once grown all over Ustica, a staple of the island kitchen and feed for the livestock that has now all but gone. The oldest growers saved the seed. It is eaten fresh between March and May, raw or cooked, in a frittedda with wild fennel; the rustic dish is macco di fave, dried beans flavoured with fennel shoots, eaten alone or with pasta.
Designation
- Certification
- Slow Food Presidium
- Category
- Fruit, vegetables and cereals, fresh or processed
Where it is made
How it is made
Grown by hand. Two ploughings, then sowing in November or December into furrows opened by a donkey plough, two seeds every 30 to 40 cm, with no fertiliser and no herbicide. In May, as the plants dry off, they are pulled or cut and tied into sheaves to dry further, and after a few days the island wind separates bean from chaff, which suits a bean this size where threshing would break it.