How do I make dried beans and chickpeas taste as nice as the expensive ones you get in fancy jars. Does it depend on the type of bean, or is there a secret trick?
Danny, Littlehampton, West Sussex
“Pulses are probably the one thing I can talk about with any authority, and even that is dubious,” says Itamar Srulovich of Honey & Co and Honey & Smoke in central London. And the key to getting the best out of them, he says, is to use beans that have been picked and dried recently, rather than ones that have sat around for years. “From the latest harvest, ideally, though good luck with that in the UK. It took Sarit [Packer, his partner] and me three years to find a chickpea supply we were happy with.”
Fortunately, things are changing on that front thanks to the likes of Hodmedod in Suffolk, which since its launch in 2012 has led a resurgence in home-grown pulses and now sells everything from British fava beans and lentils to quinoa and carlin peas. “Pulses at the corner shop or supermarket can be really, really old,” says Josiah Meldrum, one of the firm’s co-founders, “with a shelf life of up to five years. The older they are, the more the starches turn resistant, so you end up with hard and mealy beans.”
That’s why Hodmedod aims to sell each year’s crop before sending out the next. “Everything is reliant on the pulses you start out with,” Meldrum says, “and the advantage of using dried beans at home is you can cook them as hard or as soft as you like. Most beans in jars and cans are way too soft, because they’re cooked too long and at too high temperatures due to food safety considerations.” He accepts that some high-end jars are very good indeed, but adds that their price is astronomical compared with dried.
The other thing to bear in mind is your water supply. “In some areas of the country,” Meldrum says, “the water is so hard, it’s almost impossible to cook dried pulses satisfactorily. For instance, we sell a lot to Manchester for the simple reason that the water there is so soft, they always cook beautifully.” If this is an issue where you live, experiment with softer water, to see if that makes a difference: “Still mineral water may work, but it’s a bit OTT and not very eco-friendly.” Or try the softest water of all: clean rain water. “But maybe not straight from the water butt in the back garden.”
Failing that, Meldrum finds that the addition of a two- or three-inch piece of dried seaweed – “I use kelp” – will also help the beans along nicely: “It increases the pH levels of the water, which means the beans soften more easily, plus it adds a subtle, extra layer of flavour, too.” He’s less convinced by the age-old advice of putting bicarbonate of soda in the cooking water, however: “I think it’s an aberration. Yes, it will get the pulses softer, but it has a negative impact in that it strips out many nutrients, and it makes them go too mushy too quickly as well.”
If you can’t find a source of relatively youthful dried beans, don’t despair: there is a way of getting them almost to the state of perfection found in Danny’s fancy jars, and it couldn’t be easier. “Don’t strain them after cooking, because that’s when the magic happens,” Srulovich says. Squish any garlic or tomato they’ve been cooked with into the beans, and lose any herbs you’ve used, too. Season with lots of salt, then leave the beans to sit and absorb everything around them. “That’s what gives the posh jars their depth of flavour, though those you make at home will be better, and a fraction of the price.”
José Pizarro, whose many books are studded with bean recipes (his latest, Andalusia, is no exception), adds that it’s vital to cook them at a gentle simmer, or the skins may split. Like any self-respecting Spaniard, he has an obsession with beans that borders on the fanatical, and with white beans, especially, he advises going full Spanish abuelita: “Add some cold water halfway through cooking – we call this giving them a ‘scare’– which stops the skins from splitting. And use good-quality ingredients in the liquor, be that vegetables, herbs or ham, because the beans will take on its flavour.”
Keep the beans in their liquor – they’ll be fine in the fridge for a few days – and lift out and drain only as many as you need for any given meal. Don’t tip that liquid down the sink, either, Srulovich says. It’s full of flavour, so add judiciously to what you’re making, even if dried beans don’t get your, er, pulse racing quite as fast as Mr Honey & Co’s.
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