Six!! Good grief! I'm sure the soup will be divine, but it takes me hours and cramping hands just to get through two. Good luck to her!

I once made my own tamarind paste from pods. Similar task. I compared it to climbing Mt. Fuji in the old saying. Once, you gain wisdom, twice you're a fool. Home prepped tamarid paste is exactly like the jar. Unfortunately, nothing approaches fresh favas...

How many people is this soup for? 6 lb pods would give you 2 lb of beans. I don't make soup with my favas but I just looked up a recipe and it said 1 lb for 6 people. 6lb seems a lot of beans if there's just the two of you. If the prep includes peeling each individual bean I personally don't bother. Presumably the soup will be blended so I don't think you'd notice the skins. But I do have a high fibre tolerance. You could even sieve it.

Ps be aware that podding favas leaves your fingernails black.

They could be blanched and frozen for future recipes.

Hank Shaw has a quick ticToc video for prepping/shelling...video link

And his fava bean link, HUNT GATHER COOK Fava beans

I get pretty impatient doing certain prep like shelling any beans that need such a thing. Once a year maybe.

I stopped making tedious fresh spring rolls about ten years ago for gatherings because they became expected/requested. Recently started making them again as an unexpected treat if in the mood.

I agree this tends to be one of those things that has you questioning the value of the work.... it is long and tedious to shell in any quantity (6 lbs!). I still see the fresh beans in the farmer's market and think -- oh I should get some -- but the memory still sticks with me.

We think there was 3 cups and used it in the recipe. I was wondering if we might be able to already done. (I can'timagine how much they will cost, but they might be worth looking for them already done. )

Bakkal has 400g fresh for $8 and who knows how much shipping for Montana brand double peeled fava beans. There are a couple other brands as well. The snooty stores and big chain don't have any favas here, but I think they're not in yet. You can ask your local grocer if they'll get the peeled ones in for you. If a distributor has them, it could cut down on shipping. Hold on—I don't know if it's real, but a Ralphs near a Persian neighborhood says it has Sadaf brand at $3.80 for 14 oz. double peeled. Trying Middle Eastern markets or neighborhoods near you might turn some up.

You can get frozen favas easily here. £1.25 per 500gr. ie ca. 1.50$ for over a pound. Try looking next to the frozen peas.

I’ve been looking, and frozen is not easy to find here - there are even articles about how uncommon they are. I typically see them snuck into veggie mixes, and as they feel and taste in my recollection I'm not surprised that the shelves aren't loaded with them. Maybe with liver and a nice Chianti, but that’s about it!

Trader Joes used to have frozen ones, but of course frozen isn't nearly as fresh tasting. I recall making a tasty pasta with favas, mint and fresh peas.

I think that sometimes, given the speed with which they're frozen versus the time fresh ones take to get to stores, frozen can be even better than'fresh' unless you grow your own. That's certainly true of peas.

I don't know about favas, since I've only done them fresh in the pod from the farm, but baby limas are for sure better from the freezer for the reasons Floral gave, but, while the only way we get petit pois is frozen, we do get shucked English peas, full grown but not yet gone to starch, in packets of fresh, which are much better than frozen. They have more technologies to hold them at optimal temperature, nowadays—even getting English peas in the pod in the stores didn't happen until some time this century, but we do see them now, as well. The fresh sucked peas are very nice quality and lovely raw. I love peas. ;)

Lima! That’s what I was thinking of I think! I retract my previous comment!

I agree about the fresh peas and baby Limas. They'll worth for growing just to have fresh ones.

I found fresh fava beans easier to peel than fresh chickpeas, for what that's worth. I won't be buying fresh garbanzos again, but I will buy fresh favas again - just not that many at a time.