Pork and Beans

Brandade of Tuna Fish and Haricot Beans

I spent all my money taking trains from London to Croatia and back, in August – a wonderful, unforgettable experience. The souvenirs acquired on this holiday include a t-shirt with a stupid wolf on, a tea towel that doubles as a handy map of the Croatian islands, and a hilarious degree of poverty, so for my dinner the other night I turned to The Pauper’s Cookbook by Jocasta Innes (1971) and fashioned this brandade recipe. I had no idea what a brandade was, and turned to wikipedia, whose entry on the subject describes something that’s not at all like what I cooked.  Here’s the recipe:

Haricot Bean Sandwich

Second sandwich of the week. Although aware of the popularity of ‘white bean dip‘ in the US, I was unsure how to how this recipe would turn out, mostly because I was using tinned beans which can sometimes have a tinny taste which requires a ton of garlic to get rid of it. Also from Florence Greenberg’s Jewish Cookery Book (Jewish Chronicle Publications, 1947).

Bean Filling

Mash some cooked haricot beans to a paste with a little butter or margarine, season with salt and pepper and flavour with any kind of savoury sauce or vegetable extract. Add a little chopped parsley, chopped watercress or powdered sage.

Haricot Bean Soup

This is from The English Cookery Book by Lucie G. Nicoll, published by Faber and Faber in 1936, though this is the 6th edition dating from 1947. The introduction explains that Ms Nicoll is a farmer’s wife and has written the book with the intention of providing a range of seasonal recipes, compiled in a ‘book that can be washed over after having been soiled with flour, and a book in which the recipe stands out in good bold type, so that time is not wasted in peering into small and difficult lettering’. It’s a compact, uncomplicated and indeed well laid-out book, and looks well kept, so the rough treatment Ms Nicoll prepared it for looks to have not come to it (yet).  The introduction also explains how farm wives have naturally developed a tradition of good cookery, and she emphasises that this is not haute cuisine, but good solid English food “They are not for the epicurean or frequenter of the Ritz or such-like places…but again if any of my tired epicurean friends with jaded palates should care to risk  say a slice of the cold spiced beef or the hotpot of pigeons I doubt they will regret it”.