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

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

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

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

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

Santorini Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira (Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and was recently added to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

's products with a

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

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

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

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

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

that was created by the

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

explosions An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

island, the

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

, 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, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

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 defined as 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, an ...

or by a sudden

heat wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

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 liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

and lemon juice.

Nutrient content

The plant ''Lathyrus clymenum'' which the 'Fava Santorinis' is made of, has very high content of protein (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 in particular wild lentils started being cultivated in Greece in 6,000 BC (for example, ''lathyrus clymenum'' was found in jars in the ruins of Akrotiri, Santorini, which date from approximately 1600 BC). The Greek microclimate has been ideal for the evolution of such crops, and the Greeks have mastered their cooking and have benefited from their high nutritional value throughout history.

References

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