The freshest of the fresh

Move over, edamame? Fresh garbanzos - the moist, raw version of a legume usually dried, canned, or turned into hummus - may be the new "new" thing.

Garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas, generally ripen on the plant into the shriveled beige pebbles most people are familiar with. But fresh chickpeas, which are picked in their infancy, are green and encased in thin, pliant pods, much like edamame (soybeans in their shells).

Available only a few weeks a year, fresh chickpeas are prized among in-the-know foodies and sophisticated chefs for their novelty and their young, slightly vegetal taste.

"It tastes like being outside this time of year," says Josh DeChellis, executive chef at New York's La Fonda Del Sol restaurant, where he chars chickpeas in their pods and dresses them with olive oil and salt. "When the guest gets them, they're participating in the season. There's something about that participation which forms a nice connection with the dish right off the bat."

Fresh garbanzos have been available in California supermarkets and from street vendors in Latino neighborhoods for years. But only recently have they begun to infiltrate other markets. DeChellis first put them on his menu last year when a supplier introduced him to them, but Whole Foods Market brought them to wider attention in late March when it began carrying them in its Northeast stores.

"It's just another item we can add to our exotic-produce department," says Bill Yanko, Whole Foods' produce coordinator for the Northeast region. The chickpeas, which were first brought to Yanko's attention by a colleague who had seen them in the company's California stores, sell for $4.99 a pound.

Edamame often are described as "meaty" or "dense," while aficionados call fresh garbanzos "light" or even "aerated." Cooking the chickpeas in the pods, as DeChellis does, seems to be the preferred method. Unlike edamame or fava beans, which often have several nuggets inside, garbanzos usually yield only one or two per pod, occasionally three.

"I was thinking I would shell them," says freelance writer Josh Friedland, who blogged about the Whole Foods product on his site The Food Section. "But if you wanted to have more than just a handful for yourself as a snack, it would take forever."

Chef Cal Peternell at Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkeley, Calif., has worked with fresh chickpeas for years and creates a lively early summer stew with chickpeas, peppers, and eggplant that is served over couscous.

"When we're feeling ambitious enough to shell a lot of them, we make a fresh hummus," he says, noting that he leaves out the heavy tahini (a traditional ingredient in hummus). "That's really lovely."

Food and wine writer Derrick Schneider, also from California's Bay area, advises shelling the chickpeas, then tossing them in flour, salt, and seasonings before pan-frying them to be served as part of a frito misto, or assortment of fried foods. Whole Foods' Yanko suggests using them raw to add color and texture to salads.

Each participating Whole Foods store goes through a few cases of the chickpeas a week, Yanko says, almost equaling sales of snow peas or snap peas, which are strong sellers. The company is bringing the product in from Mexico, he says, and it should continue to be available until early June. Because of the strong response, the company will offer them again next year, and may also explore expanding distribution.

Califresh of California grows, ships, and packs fresh chickpeas year round, says managing partner Morgan Murray, and also offers the product shelled and frozen. Based in Sanger, Calif., the seven-year-old company sells about 5 million pounds of fresh garbanzos a year. But distribution of the fragile, highly perishable product is limited.

"They're gaining popularity and recognition, but one of the biggest detriments is getting them into the market," Murray says. "It's a distribution issue."

And so for now, fresh garbanzos remain a hard-to-find specialty item, prized almost as much for their rarity as for their taste.

"Feedback from team members in the stores and customers alike is that it's something cool," Whole Foods' Yanko says. "I'm sure it's labor-intensive, but like all things that are good, somebody's got to work a little. It's probably not as dull as peeling potatoes."