Roveja is a wild pea, with a variegated seed, from brown to yellow, from green to black, whose flavor reminds that of fava bean and chickpea.
It is an almost disappeared legume, recently found and re-cultivated, which was grown in small plots near the house and was used in the feeding of mountain populations as a protein intake
Roveja probably originates from the Middle East and more precisely from that region, known as the fertile crescent, between the Caucasus and Mesopotamia and, together with lentil, barley and spelled, has represented the basis of human nutrition since the Neolithic era.
Both the Greeks and the Romans considered it one of the most delicious vegetables, as evidenced by the writings of the Greek Theophrastus and the Romans Pliny and Columella.
Together with the best known legumes, roveja was in the past widespread in the whole Umbrian-Marche Apennine ridge. This type of pea, in addition to being cultivated, grew and still grows spontaneously in the meadows and along the slopes. It is a truly gorgeous pea, multicolored and flecked with contrasting earth tones of browns, reds, blues, and greens.
It is consumed both minced, obtaining a flour which is used to make a polenta with a marked taste, tending towards bitterness called "farrocchiata" (to be used as a reserved term in ancient Rome for all bread-making and edible flours); both whole, like normal peas: as a soup with pasta (or rice), as a side dish (with meat or fish) or as a puree and in all other ways in which the culinary tradition and the imagination of the cooks are expressed.