Right here’s a recipe from Flavors of al-Andalus that is excellent for these chilly fall days. In line with the heritage theme of the ebook, the recipe is vegetarian, as neither Muslims nor Jews consumed pork. However it have to be famous that the dish as ready at the moment often accommodates pork sausage corresponding to chorizo plus a spoonful of pimentón (paprika), a spice unknown in Moorish instances.
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There have been no beans in medieval Spanish cooking. No inexperienced beans, no pinto beans, no cannellini beans. These legumes had been found by Columbus’s explorations within the New World, however didn’t turn into identified in Spain till the mid-Sixteenth century.
However, legumes had been an essential a part of the weight-reduction plan in Moorish instances. Chickpeas (garbanzos), lentils (lentejas), and black-eyed peas (carillas, figüelos, judías de carete, or chícharos) had been cultivated and had been an essential a part of the weight-reduction plan.
Curiously, two of the phrases for “bean” in Spanish, alubia and judía, come from Moorish instances. The Arabic identify for the black-eyed pea, lubia, got here for use for all beans once they finally grew to become accessible in Spain. The phrase judía truly means “Jewish,” presumably as a result of the Sephardic folks favored the “beans” of the day, black-eyed peas.
For this recipe, soak dried black-eyed peas in a single day earlier than cooking. If utilizing recent or frozen black-eyed peas, you’ll need about 2 ½ cups. They don’t want soaking and may prepare dinner in about 40 minutes.
Crush the entire spices, garlic and herbs in a mortar or substitute floor spices, if most well-liked.
Serve black-eyed peas scorching as a predominant or aspect dish or chilly as a salad.
Serves 6 to eight as a vegetable aspect dish.
2 cups dried black-eyed peas (1 pound)
3 carrots, peeled
1 leek, white half solely
1 stalk celery
1 to 2 bay leaves
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1/3 cup olive oil + extra for drizzling
1 cup chopped onions
½ teaspoon coarse salt
10 peppercorns
2 cloves
2 coriander seeds
1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon oregano
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
4 cups chopped leaves and stems of chard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Pomegranate arils, to garnish (optionally available)
Place the black-eyed peas in a bowl or pan and canopy them with water. Go away them to soak for 8 hours.
Drain the black-eyed peas. Place them in a pan and add 6 cups of water. Deliver to a boil and skim off the froth that rises to the highest. Scale back warmth to medium, cowl, and prepare dinner the beans quarter-hour. Add the carrots, 1 / 4 of the leek, celery, bay leaves, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Cowl and prepare dinner the beans half-hour.
Whereas black-eyed peas are cooking, warmth the oil in a skillet over medium warmth. Sauté the onions till they’re very gentle however not browned, 6 to eight minutes. In the event that they begin to brown, add a couple of drops of water and proceed frying. Slice the remaining leek, add it to the skillet and proceed frying.
Place the coarse salt in a mortar with the peppercorns, cloves, coriander, cumin and oregano. Crush the spices and herbs to a powder. Add the garlic and proceed crushing to make a paste. Take away the carrots from the pan of black-eyed peas. Minimize one carrot in half. Add one half to the mortar combination and mash it with the spices. (Reserve the remaining carrots.) Dilute the paste with a spoonful of the black-eyed peas cooking liquid.
Stir the paste from the mortar into the sautéed onions within the skillet and fry for two minutes extra. Stir the contents of the pan into the black-eyed peas. Add the chard and ½ cup of chilly water. Proceed cooking the beans till they’re very tender, about 20 minutes.
Take away and discard the bay leaves, entire piece of leek, and celery. Slice the reserved cooked carrots and return them to the pan. Stir within the lemon juice. Permit the black-eyed peas to sit down 10 minutes earlier than serving.
Serve the black-eyed peas in bowls with their liquid or, to function a vegetable aspect dish, take away them from the pan with a slotted spoon. Drizzle olive oil excessive. Garnish with pomegranate arils, if desired.
