''Lathyrus clymenum'', also called Spanish vetchling, is a flowering plant in the family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

, native to the Mediterranean. The seeds are used to prepare a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

dish called fava santorinis. The plant is cultivated on the island of

Santorini Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the southern ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and was recently added to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's products with a

Protected Designation of Origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main purpose is to designat ...

. For 3,500 years residents of Santorini and neighbouring islands have been cultivating the

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

species ''Lathyrus clymenum'', known elsewhere only as a wild plant. The peculiar

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

that was created by the volcanic explosions on

island, the

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

, the cellular soil, and the combination of

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

created by the sea and the drought, make the bean a unique resource. When weather conditions are good, farmers on the island can reap about 800 kilograms of beans per hectare. A vulnerable crop, it can be destroyed by strong winds that blow away its flowers before they can yield the pea, by

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

or by a sudden

heat wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

almost instantly. Its production is thus limited, making it an expensive crop that costs €700 per acre. The cost for consumers is about €9–10 per kilogram.

Fava santorinis

The cooked fava are mixed with chopped onion into a purée, typically served with chopped onion,

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

and lemon juice.

Nutrient content

The seed''s of Lathyrus clymenum,'' from which fava Santorinis is made, has a very high protein content (25%) and is an excellent source of dietary fibre (26%). It is very low in fat, as most of its carbohydrates derive from complex carbohydrates and protein. Although it looks like the Indian toor dal or chana dal, it is a completely different species with much higher nutritional value. There is historical evidence that pulses and wild lentils in particular started being cultivated in Greece in 6,000 BCE''. Lathyrus clymenum'' has been found in jars in the ruins of Akrotiri, Santorini, which date from approximately 1600 BCE. The Greek microclimate has been ideal for the evolution of such crops and the Greeks have mastered cooking them and benefited from their high nutritional value throughout history.

References

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External links

clymen Greek cuisine Greek products with protected designation of origin Santorini Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{fabeae-stub