How long has it been since I had Breton-style beans? An exceptionally long time, that’s how long. Meanwhile Dad told me, not all that long ago, that he’d made some. So now I’ve got Dad’s recipe and I’ve got the Breton-style beans I haven’t had in ages. Ha!
Judging by the Polish media, my timing couldn’t be better. Because, of course, Ukraine. And Ukraine means soldiers. And soldiers mean the army. And you can’t have an army without pea soup, or beans for that matter.
A perfect fit, except that what’s going on is getting beyond a joke. In Ukraine, but in the media too. Speaking as someone who’s brushed up against the media and knows a thing or two about them, we’re dealing with manipulation on a far grander scale than my tiny bit of string-pulling to get you eating beans (Ukraine – soldiers – army; BTW, that last word starting with W, the obvious next link in a chain of associations you hear so often in the media these days, is one I can’t bring myself to type today).
Manipulation from every side. It utterly disgusts me. Especially as it completely overlooks the heart of the matter, the historical truth and the perspective of an ordinary person. An ordinary citizen of Ukraine, but of Poland too.
OK, but this wasn’t supposed to be about Ukraine or the Putins of this world. It was supposed to be about Breton-style beans. So it will be. Every side in this political game is a bean. You’ll have to do the Breton-style bit yourselves (please don’t take that as an anarchist manifesto 😉
The version in my recipe will always be outstanding as far as I’m concerned. Because it’s my dad’s. Dad’s a guarantee of quality in his own right, as Mum never tires of pointing out. These are the real deal.
At a glance:
Preparation time: about 3 hours (plus an overnight soak for the beans)
Serves: enough to fill up several strapping warriors
Calories: nobody counts calories in army boots
Ingredients for Breton-style beans:
- 500 grams of dried white Jaś beans (medium-sized)
- 400 grams of tomato paste
- nearly a kilogram of Silesian-style sausage (nothing too fatty, though a dry sausage is unlikely to make a good pot of beans)
- half a medium carrot
- half a medium parsley root
- a small piece of celeriac
- a teaspoon of lovage
- a teaspoon of marjoram
- two pinches of ground black pepper
- two level teaspoons of Vegeta seasoning
Method (fit for active duty, category A):
Unfortunately you have to start the day before. No way round it, unless you fancy eating your Breton-style beans late in the evening. The beans have to soak. No two ways about it.
Day 1
I put the beans in a tall pot and added enough water to cover them, then the same amount again. I set them aside. They’ll swell up overnight and be ready to go the next day.
Day 2
The beans had swollen up overnight and taken up more room, so I could get down to work. I drained off the remaining water, picked out any loose skins and rinsed the beans again under running water. I put them back in the pot with as much water as the day before. Don’t worry, this time we’re not leaving them overnight again. Put them on the “fire” and start cooking them over low heat.
Meanwhile I had time to chop the sausage finely and the vegetables very finely. Once the water boiled, I added the sausage. In went the Vegeta, measured “by eye”, and the finely chopped vegetables (carrot, parsley root and celeriac). I cooked it all for about 2 hours. Watch that you don’t overcook the beans. They shouldn’t be too soft.
After roughly two hours I added the remaining seasonings and the tomato paste to the beans. I gave everything a good stir, cooked it for another 20–30 minutes and that was it. The beans should be fairly soupy on the first day, but they’ll thicken up by the next day. They’re usually better on the second day. Serve with bread. Enjoy!
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