Judias Verdes

On my original trips to Spain, I became enamoured of the green beans they eat over there. They're similar to our green beans, but longer, wider, and more tender. On a trip to the Pyrenees, I recall seeing pyramids of green beans climbing in many gardens. They are a kind of pole bean and are cultivated on a pyramid of support poles. They are super delicious beans, often served sauteed in olive oil with jamon serrano. In Spain, they call their beans "judias," which is also the word for "Jew," so these beans are "green Jews." It would be interesting to hear an authoritative explanation of history why their beans are called "judias."

When Lisa and I visited Spain last September, a package of these precious seeds somehow ended up in our luggage along with some seeds of some Spanish green peppers (pimientos verdes and pimientos de Padron). We've got our crop of beans going now, climbing up our pyramids of split two by fours. I'm so excited, that I'm checking the beans three or four times daily. They're growing really fast right now, maybe 6-8 inches each day. It's crazy. Unless we get some bad hail, I'm expecting to have massive amounts of beans come August and September. The pimientos did not do so well, unfortunately. I've got the pimientos de Padron growing in pots, but they're growing really slowly. We have a friend trying to grow the plain pimientos verdes on his farm where he grows green chile, but last I heard, he hadn't had any luck getting the seeds started (this is a tragedy for me).

Supper tonight!

Tonight we ate the last of our illegally imported pimientos verdes that we brought back from Spain (green pimentos or green chile as we call them in New Mexico). Whenever I'm in Spain seek them out. They are essentially a sweet green chile with a very tender skin. The New Mexico green chiles must be roasted to separate the tough, inedible skin from the flesh. A Spanish pimiento verde can be eaten raw or better yet, fried whole in olive oil. They are not spicy at all. Nor do they taste like a green bell pepper. They are an essential ingredient in many simple tapas. One of my long time favorites is piece of tortilla española (cold potato/egg frittata) with a piece of pimiento on a piece of a baguette. Another favorite is the same thing but with a piece of jamon in place of the tortilla. On our most recent trip, the new, life-changing eye-opener was to modify this recipe slightly and make a small sandwhich of pimiento, half-cooked uncured bacon, and a baguette. You can see a picture of one of these sandwiches which we ate at "El Brillante" a small bar on the plaza adjacent to the Reina Sofia Museum. This bar is classic Madrid. You sit on the terraza (ourdoor seating) and watch the world go by while you have a snack and refreshing drink. While I'm sure that many tourists stop by on account of its promity to the museum and nearby Atocha trainstation, it really seems super-Spanish to me. The clientele and staff seem mostly Spanish to me. The food and drinks are also very traditional.

A very peculiar local custom occurs on the plaza on weekend nights when the weather is nice: This is one of the main gathering points for the youth of Madrid as they go out with their friends for the night to learn how to get drunk. One night as we sat and enjoyed our bocadillo of pimiento and bacon, we watched in amazement as dozens of teenagers 14-18 years of age congregated on this famous plaza with sacks of booze and soft drinks. The most common concoction that they drank is a calimocho--half red wine, half Coca Cola. I've never seen an adult drink this drink(including myself), but the kids appear on the plaza with a two liter bottle of coke a bottle or two of wine, mix them up, and drink it down. I suspect it's an easy way to get a large amount of alcohol down easily. Coming from prudish America, this spectacle is even more interesting because it's just another ho-hum aspect of a pleasant summer evening in Madrid. There is nothing abnormal about this massive congolmeration of teenagers in a public place en route to serious intoxication. The adults in the plaza take no mind (and in fact some might be playing soccer with their toddlers in the midst of it all). The local bars and cafes take no notice. The police take no notice. It is all perfectly normal. In fact, even the pre-alcoholic kids themselves seem perfectly well-behaved. They're just out for the evening with amigos sharing some cheap drinks on the plaza. You can read more about calimochos here: http://thespiritworld.net/2006/09/27/title_134/

The second picture above is our replica of a pimeinto and bacon bocadillo from tonight's dinner. We took our last two smuggled pimientos from the freezer and whipped up our version. We paired it with an arugula salad with figs, balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese, and walnuts. To drink, we had a "tinto de verano," a summer drink which is basically a poor-man's sangria--red wine on ice mixed with citrus soda (like San Pellegrino Limonata) on ice. I guess it's not that different from a calimocho, but is still very refreshing, even though the current New Mexico temperature is hardly summery--about 25 degrees with a low around 0-10 degrees tonight. It was all very tasty though our pimientos have suffered a loss of flavor after three months in the freezer. Guess we'll have to go back and smuggle some more. In the meantime, a friend of Lisa's, a local chile farmer, has agreed to try to grow our smuggled pimiento verde seeds next summer in his garden down in the Pecos River valley. Hope this works out. We cannot grow our own in Las Vegas, because it is too cold here.