For "Beans" Sake

For “Beans” Sake!

Sometime I think beans get a bad rap, it’s the gas thing for most; sorry, that was a bad play on words!  But the protein benefits are enormous and the flavors we can achieve from manipulation are endless!  Think about it this way, it looks like a pill but has ten-times the benefits.

Legumes have always been considered a fundamental part of the old world diet, valued not only for their versatility and affordability, but also for their nutritional qualities and enormous variety of gastronomic uses that have long formed part of the repertoire of regional dishes: potaje, fabada, cocido, lentejas con chorizo, fabes,  fagiuoli all'uccelletto, Cassoulet with bacon lardoons and more. In addition to their traditional dominance, these bean varieties are also building new roads into the future, with exports on the rise and new gastronomic adaptations.

For a long time the French, Spanish and Italians have been using beans as a mainstay, as a large  part of the great gastronomy.  In France, as my great-grandmother told me, slowly sautéing white beans with bacon and onion until the render out their starch causes the ending dish to be complex with a natural enzyme that unless cooked this way will not come forth.  Layer the sautéed mixture with stock and cream and roast slowly for an hour and you will have a flavor unmatched. In Spain, as I’ve studied, the many methods of utilizing Lentils goes back to the time of Christ. Italians even further back.

So, add some Fabada or some Cassoulet back into your diet and feel the energy increase, your strength uplifted, and finally your gastronomy the better from this powerful little pill!