The History of the Fava Bean & Recipe Old as the hills, fava could be found in public taverns since time began, where it finally made a triumphant entrance to the living rooms of the 'well to do'. Such is the mystery of the delectable fava, that tracing its origin has become an impossible that its name originated from the word favus which the Latin word for the broad bean. Read more . It is known that the fava dish was originally made with the broad bean. And that much later on, the broad bean was replaced with an easier version, the yellow shelled lentil. Particularly tasty, (and hard to find as well as expensive) is the fava of Santorini, used by the locals as Italians use pasta. We are talking about a basic food which is served is various different ways, depending on the time of year. Summer fava is made with red sauce capers and is named 'married'. Winter fava is sauted with fried 'kabourma' (smoked pork).