Market Notes ~ Mysterious Green Pods

By nature I'm a curious person, one of those inquisitive souls who can answer most of the food related questions on Jeopardy, one who likes to accumulate trivia with the hope that just the right occasion will present itself when I can make a brilliant comment about something or another to show that I'm knowledgeable about many things food related, but when I met a friend at the farmer's market yesterday who was carrying a very large bouquet of a plant I had never seen before I was completely stumped. I couldn't even guess what was hidden in the little green pods all over the stems.

The mysterious little treasures hidden inside the pea-pod like structures are garbanzo beans. I like garbanzo beans, use them all the time in my cooking, but have never once given any thought to how or where they grow.

Garbanzo bean or chick peas are the most widely consumed legume in the world and are one of the earliest cultivated vegetables. The Oxford Dictionary lists a 1548 citation for the legume and domesticated chickpeas have been found that date back as early as 3500 B.C. Wild chickpeas go as far back as 6800 B.C. India is the world leader in garbanzo production followed by Pakistan and Turkey.

If you would like some wonderful recipes for this yummy legume check out the California Dry Bean Board's website here. There are so many ways to incorporate this protein packed vegetable into your diet. Hummus and falafel are two of my favorites. So now, if garbanzo beans ever come up in a conversation, you've got some trivia for the occasion.