WORLD PULSES DAY - Brindisa's epic bean story ...

Finger on the pulse...

When it comes to the world of Spanish beans, we’ve truly got our finger on the pulse.

Spain is widely recognised amongst the foremost markets for beans.?It is a core ingredient of daily cooking, and central to their gastronomic brilliance.?

For over 34 years Brindisa has been sourcing amazing pulses from Spain.? During this time we have identified producers of the finest beans the country has to offer, many employing artisanal skills handed down through generations, caring for seasonal crops of tiny proportions.

Our collection of Heirloom beans represents the pinnacle of Brindisa’s pulses range.?Cultivated with obsessive attention and hand-picked in small batches, they are so rare our stocks habitually run out before the next crop is ready.?Their precious taste, texture and flavour profile appeals to the most demanding chefs, and they feature on menus in the UK’s most celebrated restaurants.

Our Epic Pulses range offers creative cooks outstanding value, and inspiration for dishes with a different spin on the traditional.?

For speed with convenience, yet representing premium product, our range of jarred beans by Perelló and Navarrico are ideal.

We select for quality over all other criteria. These legumes and peas are selected and cooked with enormous care. ?The key element is the consistent quality.?We ensure that we buy and process single batches of all crops, same origin, same sizes so that the product is consistent.?

To mark World Pulses Day we have produced this Insider's Guide to Spanish pulses.

It celebrates our connection with some of the finest beans on the planet. And Spain, the country we love, where beans are such an integral part of daily diet, and towering gastronomy.

Our fingers are really on the pulse …?

"After my first inspirational trip to El Barco de Avila, as I headed back to Madrid, I was firmly convinced that beans would one day be the next pasta in the UK. It didn't happen then, but as the health-giving properties of beans are better understood all the time, I can still hope."

- Monika Linton, Founder of Brindisa.?

Top tips from Monika?

Monika is widely regarded as one of the UK's top 'beanies'.

Here are her top tips for maximising the joy of dried pulses ...

• When you're soaking the beans in cold water, make sure you do this in a spacious bowl - the water should cover the beans by at least 5cm - as larger beans such as judiones, can plump up to double their size. ?
• Long, slow cooking is best and a terracotta pot is often a better option than a metal pan. ?
• You can also use a diffuser underneath the pot to keep the temperature stable and even. ?
• Always cook beans without salt as it will toughen their skins. Only salt them at the end of cooking. ?
• If you're cooking beans, once they break into their first boil, throw in some cold water to slow them down. This allows the bean to begin to rehydrate better. Once should be enough, but if the beans show no sign of softening, you can repeat the process. ?
• Apple vinegar, sherry vinegar any good vinegar is a must: just a drop can bring all the flavours together and add depth?
• Jarred tomato is handy but can overwhelm the flavour of the beans, grated fresh tomato is a good alternative.?
• With heirloom beans spend your money on the bean and just select small amounts of additional ingredients?
• With cooked beans enjoy the convenience and spontaneity that they permit.?
• Do not use a pressure cooker for new harvest heirloom beans they are too delicate and you cannot check on them, you could end up pulping a very special ingredient.?

Brindisa is on a mission ...

The UK perception of beans is that they are inelegant food, not elevated. This is because beans are commonly seen and eaten as fuel and not as the food jewel of our kitchens. Brindisa is on a mission to make incredible quality dried beans and pulses a common and popular staple in kitchens across the UK.?

At Brindisa, we are committed to beans and pulses and have been since our inception in 1988.?

The very first judion and arrocina beans arrived at the Brindisa warehouse from El Barco de Avila in 1990. Beans and pulses are an essential and wonderful part of Spanish gastronomy ... which means they are also an essential and unique part of Brindisa!?

They have no hierarchy, and everyone eats them regularly in Spain, from the landed aristocrat to the village dweller.?

Over the last 20 years, Brindisa has predominantly sold new-season beans primarily to chefs. Indeed it was the most innovative and revolutionary chefs of the '90s - the likes of Alastair Little (here with Monika), Simon Hopkinson and Mark Hix - often referred to as the Godfathers of modern British cooking - who were the first to recognise the extraordinary potential of hand-picked Spanish beans (with a little persuasion from Monika!). They reworked recipes for a different spin on the traditional, and made these dishes famous in London's Soho area.

The opportunity for beans ...

There was a time when the bean revolution was limited to professional chefs and creative home cooks. But times are changing, as more people explore the dietary appeal of plant-based meals and discover the taste and texture good beans have to offer. ?

Our aim is to make beans and pulses easier for everyone to embrace and cook.

In the UK, we consume a lot of baked beans from tins, and we love our in-season fresh runner and broad beans. However, beans dried naturally on the plant haven't figured very highly in our culture since medieval times. Our climate is generally too damp to allow most varieties to dry naturally without the risk of mould and mildew. Consequently, we haven't retained the tradition of soaking and slow-cooking that prevails in Spain and in the Mediterranean. ?

In Spain, dried beans are ideally bought loose from a trusted market stallholder, preferably local to the area of cultivation. When the beans are harvested in autumn you can buy and cook them immediately: an experience beyond compare. The virtually 'fresh' bean, often sundried in the pod, will cook through within 30 minutes and be as smooth as cream, with the tenderest of skins that melts away. ?

In some regions, there are heritage varieties that are so local you won't see them anywhere else. They may have evocative names and nicknames that vary from village to village. ?

Your options ...

Brindisa is here to help you choose the right bean for your meal, and to help you feel more confident about trying new varietals and methods of preparation and cooking.?

You may not be ready to eat pulses daily, as most families in Spain do. But you are sure to make them part of your weekly meals once you have tried and tested some of these recipes!

The incredible heirloom beans

The unique characteristics of the small-batch, rare heirloom beans are their delicate skins, their ability to absorb water, their tender centres & their individual flavours. ?

When cooked, the skin and the pulp remain as one. These arguably perfect qualities for a bean are produced when the plants are grown in small plots and in ideal conditions.?

The perfect conditions require generous rainfall, a mild climate and naturally, well-irrigated land rich in minerals and high in limes and calcium.?

Selecting and storing dried beans and pulses

We love to select new season dried beans, and they should be considered semi-fresh. They must always be stored in a cool, dry, dark place to not discolour. ?

It is hugely important to buy beans from a reliable supplier, such as Brindisa(!), who can assure you that they have been harvested in the previous season. ?

Good dry beans should be smooth with a matt shine. ?

There should be no discolouration, wrinkles or split or broken beans.?

When you see perfect beans, they are beautiful with vivid colours, and their skins are almost silky to touch.?

To enjoy them at their best, they must be consumed within a year of harvest, eighteen months maximum. ?

Buy beans sold in vacuum packs is a good indication of high quality as they are protected from drying out. ?

Always store your beans in a cool dry place (the optimum temperature is less than 18c) not under bright lights - at home this could be a cellar or larder Otherwise their skins will harden. ?

A fridge is fine in the summer, as long as the beans aren't allowed to get wet. ?

Dry bean preparation and cooking

First you should soak the beans until they are plump and smooth. Usually, 12 hours is enough. Sometimes you may need a few hours more, particularly if the beans are a bit older. In very warm weather you could refrigerate the soaking beans.?

Cooking times vary due to the age of the beans, water hardness and how gently the beans are simmered.?

Once you’ve cooked them a couple of times you'll get to know them.?

When the beans are soaked, rinse and put in a heavy cook pot and cover well with fresh water, add a bouquet garnis or farcellet. Bring the beans to a boil, reduce heat to very low and cover. Simmer gently until tender. NB Should you find the beans are simmering too hard with the addition of a little cold water, you do not want to cook them too fast as the skins with break and the centres won’t cook through.?

How to choose and cook lentils

Lentils don't need to be soaked before cooking but they must be thoroughly rinsed. Start them off in cold water - enough to cover - preferably with a finely chopped onion, carrot and celery, plus a bay leaf and some peppercorns. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, skim off any froth that comes to the surface and simmer for about 20-25 minutes until tender, depending on the variety. ?

Don't overcook them, if anything they are better slightly al dente. ?

??

Our jarred legumes and peas

We select for quality over all other criteria?

Navarrico & Perello legumes and peas are selected and cooked with enormous care. ?

The key element is the consistent quality.?

We ensure that we buy and process single batches of all crops, same origan, same sizes so that the product is consistent.?

We ensure the legume is cooked only just enough so that it is not too soft. ?

Monjardin legumes are selected for their organic status and the convenience of their smaller sizing.?

?

Our varietals

White beans

Judion:?Essentially a butter bean and the larger and plumper it is the more prized it is. The very best of the crop produced in Spain goes only to the countries best chefs who will pay any price to secure crop. For us to secure crop we have to search beyond Spain’s borders. If the bean is of the right calibre it should almost double in weight when you soak and cook it.?

Brindisa judion: Epic , navarrico, perello?

Faba:?The famous lozenge shaped bean from north spain is the creamiest of all beans. This variety is grown across the green belt from Asturias to Galicia on small terraces by small holders and landed estates. It is one of the most revered varietals, it’s a luxury crop and used with reverence in dishes of the area with sausages or seafood.?

Jeremy Lee, Chef proprietor at Quo Vadis has a fabulous slow-cooked faba recipe here .

Brindisa : Heirloom

Alubia blanca :?Alubia is the basic word for bean and we use it for the everyday medium sized white bean similar to a cannellini bean. It is poles apart from the standard white bean of the tinned recipes that we are used to as it is selected with carefully single batches and it produces a very consistent ingredient. The alubia alargada bean is a slightly longer shape than the alubia blanca.?

Brindisa: Epic , navarrico, perello?

Arrocina : This is a round bean which becomes a small oval when cooked and is prized for its delicate appearance. ?

Brindisa: Epic ?

Fesol de ganxet : Fesol or mongete is the catalan word for alubia or bean. Ganxet means hooked hence its name as the bean is moon shaped. Its skin is extremely thin and its texture meltingly creamy.?

Brindisa: Heirloom?

Fesol de castellfollit :?Fesol or mongete is the catalan word for alubia or bean. This is a tiny round bean grown in a tiny area with a unique micro climate. Its skin is extremely thin and its texture meltingly creamy.?

Brindisa: Heirloom ?

Coloured beans

Tolosana : The basque country is the native area for this black bean, shiny and deep black when dry which turns purple as they cook. Their flavour is nutty & their texture creamy. The cultivation is so limited that we source our crop from outside of the basque region.?

Brindisa : Heirloom , Navarrico ?

Verdina : this elegant bean of gentle green is similar to the Ganxet is size and delicacy, it whitens slowly as it ages so use early and pair with seafood. ?

Brindisa: Heirloom ?

Ibeas : This red round jewel of a bean is from central Spain and grown across Burgos in Castilla they pale to a tawny colour as they cook. As with tolosa beans they create a thick dark gravy as they braise. Traditionally cooked with meats and suit any stew with or without meat.?

Brindisa: Heirloom , Epic?

Peas

What do we love about chickpeas? They are so versatile and can suit recipes from across the world?

Lechoso chickpea : A feast for the eyes these peas are large when dry and get larger as they cook, they are milky in colour, creamy in texture and gentle in flavour?

Brindisa: Epic , Perello , Navarrico?

Pedrosillano chickpea : modest in size this variety of peas has a golden colour and a crunchier texture. They are excellent for salads ?

Brindisa: Perello ?

Lentils

What do we love about lentils??

Rich in iron and minerals and very versatile, lentils are a crucial staple food. Their cooking time is shorter than other legumes and soaking is rarely needed. The best ones will always hold their shape as they cook. They are equally good eaten hot or cold. They can be humble, but it only takes the addition of some diced vegetables and aromatics such as bay leaves, peppers and garlic to make something that steals the show at any dinner table. ?

Pardina lentil : Tiny, dark plump disc of deliciousness?

Brindisa: Epic , Navarrico?

Castellano lentil : Large, light green lentil that is a perfect staple for everyday meals?

Brindisa: Perello?

?

Quick tips and legume ideas:?

Fesols of both varieties are eaten with grilled sausages such as botifarra. Cook the beans and re fry with garlic and parsley and find a hearty Italian or Toulouse or Cumberland sausage ?

Fesols are also very popular for salads especially typical is the salt cod salad empedrat ?

Tolosa are loved for their flavour that many families just cook them slowly with an onion and carrot only and eat them as they are ?

The basque custom is to eat a bowl of tolosa beans either plain as above or slow cooked with panceta or chorizo but always with a couple of pickled guindilla peppers on the side ?

Traditionally tolosa bean would only be cooked in an earthenware pot and very slowly with no bubbling of the stock.?

These dark coloured beans tolosa and ibeas are ideal for Mexican recipes such as enchiladas using corn tortillas?

Slow cook dishes have to use dried beans, chickpeas or lentils soaked overnight and cooked from scratch. a rich stew such as a fabada or cocido, the beans need to absorb the stock and fats to an extent that ready-cooked beans cannot match. To be honest there is almost no limit to how slowly you can cook beans as long as you watch and taste and stop once they are soft inside. ?

?

Aromatics & flavourings & sauces

Heirloom and Epic pulses have characteristics and flavours that you do not want to obscure.

Jarred beans are good vehicles for multiple flavours that feature in your recipe.

For dried beans cooking from scratch, use dry aromatics?

For jarred beans, add pastes, herbs and spices?

?

Aromatics

Typically, aromatics for bean and pulse dishes are ?

• dried red peppers such as nora, guindilla, choricero or Mexican pepper varietals ( see Cool Chile company) ?
• a small amount of pepper paste such as nora paste is ideal ?
• pimenton: hot mild bitter sweet smoked and unsmoked ?
• saffron stamens ?
• paella seasoning ?
• bay leaves or the Catalan herb parcel farcellet ?
• dried oregano ?

For dried beans cooking from scratch use a picada for the final stage to impart aroma and weight to the pot ?

For jarred beans picadas are not so relevant and are better added as a topping that you mix in and heat through at the very end or once served?

Picada?

Picada, majada, pesto or pistou are variations on the same theme of adding a “je ne se quois” to the dish but they are crushed into a paste and put in the dish near the end of cooking to give a fresh burst of colour, flavour, consistency and heady aroma – the ingredients are not always easy to identify but they offer complexity and depth to the dish. Easy short cuts for flavour and consistency can be a small dash of sherry or apple vinegar or a spoonful of peanut butter or romesco sauce ?

• Grated dark chocolate ?
• Crushed almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts ?
• Herbs fresh or dried ?
• Olive oil, sherry, water ?
• Saffron ?
• Pimenton ?

Sauces & ingredients ?

Sauces can overwhelm heirloom and can be best reserved for jarred beans. ?

Sofrito and fritada for dried beans should be made from scratch and contain a little grated tomato or none??

• Grate fresh tomatoes into these dishes and cook down your own onions. ?
• For extra luxury top with goats curd, labneh or cream ?
• Cook meats such as pancetta, chorizo, morcilla whole and slice once cooked ?
• Cooking chorizos and beans are a match made in heaven ?
• Sliced Hard boiled eggs are a real classic Spanish topping to many bean dishes, do try them! ?
• Alejandro or brindisa cooking chorizo - chorizo is at its best when used with any legumes, the starch is perfect for the fat and flavour of the chorizo?
• Brindisa black pudding - add at the end as its fragile and may break up. Slice or break up completeley once beans are ready.?
• Anchovies - just great with lentil salads?