In favor of tenderness

PalmaThe acidic smell of vinegar wafted through the kitchen, cutting through the bitterness of the green beans and the aromas of boiled vegetables. I knew that when I sat down at the table, the ordeal would begin. Spring had burst, the pods were flowering and the beans grew tender and crisp, stuffed with small green pearls inside. There was always a small furrow or two of broad beans in the yard, and some days some of these fruits would arrive at our table in a formidable, unavoidable green bean dish.

The broad bean has been, for centuries, a dam against hunger, so having a sack of them was a guarantee for getting through the winter. Its high content of protein and starch made it an extraordinary food capable of sustaining a peasant during a full day's work. In the estates, the role of broad bean stews was fundamental because it allowed feeding a large number of servants and day laborers who consumed them almost daily. They were also a recurring food in the diet of hermits. Miquel de Binifar recounts, in La cuina dels ermitans (1996), that they were usually boiled with chard, potatoes, pumpkin, cabbage, parsley, and a sofrito of ramellet tomatoes. They had to come out brothy to be able to scald soups in the bowls. The fact of eating bread is not exclusive to Mallorca. Pedro Ballester collects what, according to the author, is one of the oldest recipes from Menorca: fava beans with picada, a simple and thick dish that begins by putting soaked bread and garlic in a mortar. Once this paste has been bound, it is added to the pot where the legumes are boiled and dissolved with the broth. Generally, dried broad beans usually star in spoon dishes, stews, purees, scalded or boiled broad beans, and the Eivissa-style pickled broad beans, a stew that ends with a picada of almonds, garlic, and slices of bread soaked in vinegar.

Bajocades

In spring, when the broad beans are tender, we can use both their pod and fruit, but for a specific time, when the grain is milky and the bean's skin is thin and has a sweet and slightly bitter taste that recalls fresh grass. One of the most popular dishes of these days is "bajocada". According to the DCVB, it is a stew of tender broad beans boiled with the beans. In some versions, like the one collected in Alaró by Antoni Tugores in Memòria de la cuina mallorquina (2004), the boiled beans are mixed with a sofrito of ramellet tomato. In others, on the other hand, the vegetables are boiled and stewed with a generous splash of vinegar. The same book collects other dishes that allow us to use the green fruit, such as tender broad beans with allioli and fried tender broad beans, a dish typical of the Tramuntana charcoal burners that the author collected in Caimari. On this occasion, the beans were cut into pieces two fingers long and fried with sliced garlic. When they were half cooked, a bunch of grells, botifarró, and, a little before stopping the heat, a piece of sobrassada were added. However, we have other dishes that only use the pod, such as stewed tender broad beans, a dish made with broad bean pods, and broad beans with artichokes and boiled eggs.

The broad bean in our recipe books is the result of each era. The tender bean coexists with other seasonal vegetables such as artichokes, peas, and oil peas, and is commonly part of vegetable stews and side dishes; while the dried broad bean becomes more versatile due to its nature, adapting to every season of the year.

Now that it is a good time to take advantage of having the green fruit, I have adapted the tender broad beans with Cas Concos aioli described by Antoni Tugores. It is a fresh recipe, a seasonal Russian salad that will be better if you let it rest from one day to the next.