‘They eat from one bowl.’ This was a way to deride the lower classes going back 500 years. And implied in this comment is that beans were the bulk of the food in the bowl. To this day, eating lots of beans can bring you scorn: Think of the Mexican example, although as a New Jersey native I’d never heard the term “beaner” until I moved to California.
So be it. I like beans. A lot, actually. I tend to eat dried beans in cooler months because I like them slow-baked in a pot rather than boiled. Actually, as Herve This wrote in Molecular Gastronomy (OK, OK, I know I’m a geek…) beans should never be boiled at all — they should be cooked slowly in sub-simmering water. I keep mine at about 180-190 degrees.
Beans alone are pretty boring. But is there a better dancing partner for beans than pork? I mean really. Pork and beans is such a natural combination that it appears in every culture that allows people to eat hogs. But the Spanish-speaking world has, in my mind, brought the marriage to its most happy consummation. There is some history to this.
After the Moors were booted from Spain, the winning Catholics rejoiced in the return of porkdom. So much so that they required any Jewish or Muslim converts — and everyone had to convert to stay in Spain at the time — to prove their conversion by eating lots of pork. Nice, huh?
The bean recipe I made the other night is one of those “testing dishes.” Judias con Chorizo is at its core, a fancy Spanish chili. It is a hugely satisfying meal that combines soft chorizo, a ham hock and lots of beans. I made my own wild boar chorizo not too long ago, I used a piece of ham hock I bought from John Bledsoe, and a pound of borlotti beans from last year’s garden.
Add oh, about 10 cloves of garlic (also from the garden), some homemade wild boar stock, a grated onion and paprika — gotta have paprika in a Spanish dish — and you have a meal that coos comfort. Now I know California doesn’t exactly have the harsh climate that makes most of us yearn for a soft, warm comforting dish, but we get soft ourselves here. Three days of hard rain and highs “only” in the 50s has us donning extra layers. And Californians don’t like to wear extra layers.
Judias con Chorizo is a dish that, like a salmis, is better reheated. It is cheap to make, and is perfect for a Sunday meal, with leftovers for lunch during the week. I hope you enjoy it.
8 responses so far ↓
1 adele
// Nov 4, 2008 at 9:49 am
Mmm. After doing a lot of vegan/vegetarian bean stews, I have to agree that beans are definitely more interesting with the addition of pork. Red beans and rice just don’t taste the same without a ham hock.
2 Maryann
// Nov 4, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Gorgeous, Hank! Yes, pork with beans are a perfect pair. Then I like beans and greens, then beans and macaroni..
Very homey dish. All I need with it is a loaf of crusty bread to dip with
3 Núria
// Nov 5, 2008 at 4:07 am
I do love judÃas con Chorizo! In fact, I love beans with clams too, also beans with butifarra… I’m also a beans addict and this is my type of dish during the cold days
4 Ken Harris
// Nov 5, 2008 at 10:24 am
When we lived in Spain we used to do beans, not necessarily judias, more frequently garbanzos, with morcilla, Spanish blood sausage. Also, we took an entire clump of garlic, burned it over the open fire, and threw it into the pot that way. We could always skim the charred parts out, but the garlic had this great chestnut taste. Would you believe I sometimes have trouble finding blood sausage here in Arizona?
Ken
5 maryann
// Nov 6, 2008 at 1:54 am
Thanks, Hank
..for the mushroom ideas.
6 matt wright
// Nov 6, 2008 at 11:22 am
This sounds awesome – especially with the home made wild boar stock, I mean – where on earth are you going to be able to buy that!
A great looking winter dish. Now I just have to find a wild boar!
7 Peter
// Nov 6, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I agree. I’m all about the homemade guanciale with beans- though I tend to use the pressure cooker when I don’t have time to slow-bake.
I also agree that Californians have no conception of the cold.
It’s time to fire up the smoker soon; I’ll have to throw a couple of hocks on there…
8 Sam Sotiropoulos
// Nov 9, 2008 at 9:56 am
I know I don’t have to remind you just how much Greeks love their beans! Thanks for the historical anecdote regarding pork and beans, one learns something new every day! Oh, and I simply love chorizo! This dish sounds like something that would sit very comfortably in my stomach.
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