Tolosa black bean ✦

Haricot noir de Tolosa

What it is

Cooked, it throws a broth so dark and so bound by its own dissolved skins that Basque cooks judge the dish by the liquid rather than the bean — nothing like the firm, dry turtle bean the name suggests. The growers organised formally only in 1994, as Tolosako Babarruna, to defend a bean that had been local currency for far longer.

In the kitchen

Do not soak it. Start cold, hold it just under a simmer for two to three hours, top up only with cold water, and let the pot stand off the heat ten minutes before serving — that rest is what pulls the broth together.

Goes with

Morcilla de Burgos Chorizo Pork belly Guindilla Cabbage Garlic Olive oil

Same species

Ayocote bean Black bean Borlotti bean Cannellini bean Coco de Paimpol Faba asturiana

In season alongside

Woodcock Hare Wood pigeon Venison Wild boar Antep pistachio

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