Garbanzo beans are so much better in Spain

[Damien Reynolds]

So like, i have to get this off my chest. On a recent trip on the Camino I discovered Garbanzos. In the USA, they come in a can, in Spain they come in a glass jar. The one's in the USA are stiffer. Like the texture is important. Its like they aren't cooked enough in the USA. In Spain they are called Garbanzo Cocidos Extra. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Also, the nutritional labeling is better in Spain. They include info for the drained weight. Just a rant.

 

[henrythedog]

So like, i have to get this off my chest. On a recent trip on the Camino I discovered Garbanzos. In the USA, they come in a can, in Spain they come in a glass jar. The one's in the USA are stiffer. Like the texture is important. Its like they aren't cooked enough in the USA. In Spain they are called Garbanzo Cocidos Extra. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Also, the nutritional labeling is better in Spain. They include info for the drained weight. Just a rant.

You’re correct.

My local supermarket chain in the north of England carries a wide range of quality imported produce including jars of organic Spanish garbanzos (chickpeas). Double the price of the canned alternative, but vastly superior.

 

[lalaone]

I can relate. We tried recipes over lockdowns, never able to recreate the perfect Spanish version. Starting from dry garbanzos, many US recipes recommend soaking with baking soda to 1) break down the skin and 2) create a creamy texture. I wonder if that is what goes into cans - baking soda? Now I wonder if using natural ingredients like lemon are secrets to that elusive, delicious difference

 

[peregrina2000]

But the absolute best way to get good garbanzo beans is to cook them yourself. Get good dried beans, soak them overnight, rinse them, and then cook them til they are the consistency you want. I am sure that Spanish jarred garbanzos are better than US canned garbanzos, but cooked from dry is best of all. I typically go to a place in Santiago that sells a lot of dried beans — it is on a street emanating from the Plaza Cervantes. I buy several kilos and bring them home to enjoy during the year. SO SO SO much better than pre-cooked!

And if you are wondering, it is perfectly legal to bring dried legumes into the US. It’s just rice that is prohibited.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I, too, cook my own garbanzos (chick.peas) at home from dry. Interestingly, I don't "think" I ever had any served to me in Spain. I did really enjoy the very large white "kidney shaped" beans a number of times though, but can't remember their name; possibly fava beans?

 

[ApproachingBliss]

I, too, cook my own garbanzos (chick.peas) at home from dry. Interestingly, I don't "think" I ever had any served to me in Spain. I did really enjoy the very large white "kidney shaped" beans a number of times though, but can't remember their name; possibly fava beans?

Fava beans are very large, white, and kidney shaped, usually with a skin that gets removed after the first boil. This is our first year growing them, so we haven't enjoyed them yet. (WI-USA)

 

[Damien Reynolds]

But the absolute best way to get good garbanzo beans is to cook them yourself. Get good dried beans, soak them overnight, rinse them, and then cook them til they are the consistency you want. I am sure that Spanish jarred garbanzos are better than US canned garbanzos, but cooked from dry is best of all. I typically go to a place in Santiago that sells a lot of dried beans — it is on a street emanating from the Plaza Cervantes. I buy several kilos and bring them home to enjoy during the year. SO SO SO much better than pre-cooked!

And if you are wondering, it is perfectly legal to bring dried legumes into the US. It’s just rice that is prohibited.

Ok so I like tried the cook them myself method. They were excellent and yummy. Then I was shocked to realize it actually cost me MORE to make and can them myself vs. canned versions. I bought my dried beans at Albertson's in California. Do mass purchase in Spain make it more economically favorable to cook them yourself? I want better and cheaper if I'm gonna do the labor.

 

[TeamH]

I listed to a podcast once that said lower quality chickpeas were canned for export and the better/bigger ones come in a jar usually for the Spanish market. Lidl in the UK sometimes have a Spanish week where they sell chickpeas in a jar which I tend to stock up on. Otherwise you'll find them in a deli or natural grocery store and pay twice the price.

 

[thejoker]

I've had garbanzos twice on this Camino, both times with cocido. I can totally recommend Casa Maragata in Astorga for superb garbanzos that melt like butter and have that delicious cocido taste. Their cocido is delicious too. Go hungry, the portions are huge.

 

[peregrino_tom]

But the absolute best way to get good garbanzo beans is to cook them yourself. Get good dried beans, soak them overnight, rinse them, and then cook them til they are the consistency you want.

The slow-food, low-energy high-nutrient alternative is to sprout them, if you have the time and patience.
A long time ago, working in a vegan restaurant in Toronto, we hung the wet chickpeas in sacking bags over the sinks, where they could be easily rinsed. Once soft (after about 3 days) we mashed them to make some very fine hummus.
For an introduction to sprouting https://flourishingkitchen.com/how-to-sprout-chickpeas/

 

[J Willhaus]

I only used the canned ones for hummus or soup. I cook the ones from dry for everything else.

 

[peregrina2000]

I did really enjoy the very large white "kidney shaped" beans a number of times though,

Maybe it was the alubia/haba bean? Though they are not kidney shaped. Correction— edited to add - I think these beans ARE kidney shaped! They are the bean that go into Asturian fabada. I learned when walking the Norte that many of the beans used in Asturian fabada are actually grown in Galicia. I met some farmers who recommended that I go to the ”bean museum” in Lourenza, which was small but very interesting.

A little store on the street down to the train station from the Plaza Galicia in Santiago used to have a big barrel of beans from Lourenza for sale. They were about 12€ a kilo, the last time I saw them.

I always have trouble cooking those big white beans, they either are too hard, or the skins fall off and they are too mushy. Any tips? (hoping this is not too far off-topic, since it is about beans anyway!).

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@peregrina2000, I will trust your knowledge and opinions on most any topic which is related to Spain and this is no exception; very interesting. I'm sure I must have overstated the word "kidney shaped".

 

[peregrina2000]

@peregrina2000, I will trust your knowledge and opinions on most any topic which is related to Spain and this is no exception; very interesting. I'm sure I must have overstated the word "kidney shaped".

I’m sure Spain must also have white kidney beans! I’m just saying that the more ”famous” bean would be the alubia.

 

[ksam]

ossibly using and Instant Pot to cook your beans from dry might get you better results. At least it has for me. I have a small 3qt one. Just a suggestion!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

ossibly using and Instant Pot to cook your beans from dry might get you better results. At least it has for me. I have a small 3qt one. Just a suggestion!

I use a large Instapot, too, with good results.

 

[peregrina2000]

Fava beans are very large, white, and kidney shaped, usually with a skin that gets removed after the first boil. This is our first year growing them, so we haven't enjoyed them yet. (WI-USA)

So are fava beans the same as alubias/haba beans? Can you tell me more about removing the skin after the first boil? That sounds VERY labor-intensive, but I don’t like having all those skins floating around.

@peregrina2000, I will trust your knowledge and opinions on most any topic which is related to Spain and this is no exception; very interesting. I'm sure I must have overstated the word "kidney shaped".

The beans I am thinking about are pictured in this link. I do see a curvature there. So they are kidney shaped after all, @Camino Chrissy!

 

[LTfit]

I can relate. We tried recipes over lockdowns, never able to recreate the perfect Spanish version. Starting from dry garbanzos, many US recipes recommend soaking with baking soda to 1) break down the skin and 2) create a creamy texture. I wonder if that is what goes into cans - baking soda? Now I wonder if using natural ingredients like lemon are secrets to that elusive, delicious difference

The soaking using baking soda is important when making hummus. Save some of the cooking water and very slowly add to the mixture when mixing the ingredients. That apparently is the secret to getting a creamy texture.

 

[ApproachingBliss]

Haba beans refers to peeled fava beans, or it can refer to unpeeled fava beans. Fava are from the pea family. They are considered a broad bean. Alubia refers to the generic beans, so alubia pinto or alubia black, pinto or black beans.

To prepare: Soak dry fava beans overnight OR cook in fresh water to a boil, let sit an hour. Peel by squeezing the bean between the finger and thumb and the skin comes off. (small or fresh small favas do not always need to be peeled) Then using fresh water again, bring to a boil for 10 minutes to an hour, checking for tenderness until done. (Older or drier beans may take longer.)
Cooked peeled dried fava beans.

Fava Beans - How to Cook, Soak, Peel and Freeze

Learn how to cook all varieties of fava beans, from fresh to dried, to prepare them for use in recipes - plus storage & freezing techniques.

toriavey.com

 

[Camino Chrissy]

The soaking using baking soda is important when making hummus. Save some of the cooking water and very slowly add to the mixture when mixing the ingredients. That apparently is the secret to getting a creamy texture.

I love hiummus, but am not motivated to go to the effort to make it myself, although I admire those of you who go the extra mile.

 

[darealdeal77]

So like, i have to get this off my chest. On a recent trip on the Camino I discovered Garbanzos. In the USA, they come in a can, in Spain they come in a glass jar. The one's in the USA are stiffer. Like the texture is important. It’s like they aren't cooked enough in the USA. In Spain they are called Garbanzo Cocidos Extra. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Also, the nutritional labeling is better in Spain. They include info for the drained weight. Just a rant.

Is All about the Chorizo!!!

 

[Rebekah Scott]

The "Extra" part of the label refers to the quality grade. Those "extras" are pretty good beans!

 

[Paladina]

Maybe it was the alubia/haba bean? Though they are not kidney shaped. Correction— edited to add - I think these beans ARE kidney shaped! They are the bean that go into Asturian fabada. I learned when walking the Norte that many of the beans used in Asturian fabada are actually grown in Galicia. I met some farmers who recommended that I go to the ”bean museum” in Lourenza, which was small but very interesting.

A little store on the street down to the train station from the Plaza Galicia in Santiago used to have a big barrel of beans from Lourenza for sale. They were about 12€ a kilo, the last time I saw them.

I always have trouble cooking those big white beans, they either are too hard, or the skins fall off and they are too mushy. Any tips? (hoping this is not too far off-topic, since it is about beans anyway!).

A pressure cooker: you can regulate the pressure and the time. The first one was the most useful wedding present I received, lasting longer than the marriage! I’m on to my third one now — the pressure cooker, that is, not the partner.

 

[WayWalker]

So like, i have to get this off my chest. On a recent trip on the Camino I discovered Garbanzos. In the USA, they come in a can, in Spain they come in a glass jar. The one's in the USA are stiffer. Like the texture is important. Its like they aren't cooked enough in the USA. In Spain they are called Garbanzo Cocidos Extra. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Also, the nutritional labeling is better in Spain. They include info for the drained weight. Just a rant.

Like the olives. I cannot for the life of me find olives in the states like the ones I tasted in Spain!!

 

[WayWalker]

So like, i have to get this off my chest. On a recent trip on the Camino I discovered Garbanzos. In the USA, they come in a can, in Spain they come in a glass jar. The one's in the USA are stiffer. Like the texture is important. Its like they aren't cooked enough in the USA. In Spain they are called Garbanzo Cocidos Extra. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Also, the nutritional labeling is better in Spain. They include info for the drained weight. Just a rant.

Or good quality white wine vinegar!!!

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

You’re correct.

My local supermarket chain in the north of England carries a wide range of quality imported produce including jars of organic Spanish garbanzos (chickpeas). Double the price of the canned alternative, but vastly superior.

Interesting. In Portugal, the jarred ones are about 30% cheaper than the canned ones, and usually the brand stocked in the very small grocery stores. Also excellent!

Edit:

It could be that for export, the jarred ones are more expensive than canned ones since less-commonly exported, and trickier to ship, being glass jars.

 

[J Willhaus]

I use a crock pot to cook beans most of the time.

 

[lalaone]

Out of curiosity, I checked on La Tienda. They sell dried garbanzos from Astorga. The beans sound high quality. The price is comparable to many US brands, at $15 for 2 kg / 4.4 lb.

https://www.tienda.com/products/garbanzo-beans-el-maragato-be-03

 

[Pilgrim Patricia]

Perhaps those kidney-shaped beans are what we in Western Canada refer to as "broad beans":

The skins slide of easily once the beans are cooked. Sorry for sending two images; I can't seem to get rid of just one

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

Perhaps those kidney-shaped beans are what we in Western Canada refer to as "broad beans":
The skins slide of easily once the beans are cooked. Sorry for sending two images; I can't seem to get rid of just one

(As another Western-Canadian gardener, hoping to be gardening through the winter in central Portugal this year) I think so. In central Portugal, they get grown in the fall and through the winter. I'm looking forward to giving them a try!

Bean there: my love of fabada in Asturias, Spain – plus the recipe

The rich butter bean stew is Asturias’ signature dish, and treated with reverence at ‘one of the most special restaurants in Spain’

www.theguardian.com

A couple of sources of seeds. The first is North American.

Fava Bean Seeds (Broad Bean Seeds) | Johnny's Selected Seeds

Enjoy one of the oldest crops under cultivation. Distinct, pleasing and creamy texture. Our fava bean seeds are 100% guaranteed.

www.johnnyseeds.com

The second is Dutch, and ships all through Europe. They have the widest variety of vegetable seeds I have ever seen. 25 listings for what they call, in their English translation, broad beans or faba beans, if you want to try growing them yourselves. On their website, at the lower left of the page, you can choose whatever language you want, to replace the original Dutch.

Zoekresultaat broad beans

Alle artikelen die worden gevonden op broad beans

www.vreeken.nl

Mmm mmm!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I wonder where US so-called Lima beans fit into this thread. I sometimes buy them frozen at the supermarket.

 

[Steven Dwyer]

And if you are wondering, it is perfectly legal to bring dried legumes into the US. It’s just rice that is prohibited.

There isn’t a total prohibition on importing rice. I once had a long conversation with the customs agents about the rice I was carrying back from Thailand. In the end, I was allowed to keep all my rice.

 

[ApproachingBliss]

I wonder where US so-called Lima beans fit into this thread. I sometimes buy them frozen at the supermarket.

Fava and lima beans are related.They belong to the Fabaceae family, including fava beans, lentils, and peanuts.

I've made lima beans the biggest ones I could find, took the peels off of those. The liquid that they cook in becomes velvetty smooth, really nice for a soup.

 

[peregrina2000]

There isn’t a total prohibition on importing rice. I once had a long conversation with the customs agents about the rice I was carrying back from Thailand. In the end, I was allowed to keep all my rice.

Well, I lost two kilos that I had brought the year I walked the Levante. I didn’t carry the rice in my pack from Valencia, but I found some high qualitiy Valencian rice in the Santiago Corte Inglés, and it was taken at US entry. The official was very polite, but told me categorically that rice could not be imported (but let my garbanzos and alubias through). I never bothered to research further. I have done some internet searching today and find that hulled rice is permitted so long as it doesn’t come from a country with a kharpa beetle problem. I think I will try to bring back some good paella rice on my next camino, now armed with better information!

Thanks to @Steven Dwyer, and if I remember, I will let you know next year whether I was successful!

 

[LTfit]

Out of curiosity, I checked on La Tienda. They sell dried garbanzos from Astorga. The beans sound high quality. The price is comparable to many US brands, at $15 for 2 kg / 4.4 lb.

https://www.tienda.com/products/garbanzo-beans-el-maragato-be-03

That area is know for its dried beans. During my time in Villares de Orbigo I learned this and saw my first garbanzo plant. It looked more like a bush than tall stalks which are characteristic of peas. The garbanzos were also smaller than the dried ones we can buy here in The Netherlands.

Since this year I have an allotment (I really enjoyed having one in Villares de Orbigo during lockdown). Maybe I'll try planting garbanzos next year!

 

[OzAnnie]

Maybe I'll try planting garbanzos next year!

Great - Watching this space

 

[Rebekah Scott]

That area is know for its dried beans. During my time in Villares de Orbigo I learned this and saw my first garbanzo plant. It looked more like a bush than tall stalks which are characteristic of peas. The garbanzos were also smaller than the dried ones we can buy here in The Netherlands.

Since this year I have an allotment (I really enjoyed having one in Villares de Orbigo during lockdown). Maybe I'll try planting garbanzos next year!

A great deal of the garbanzos sold in Spain are, alas, imported from Argentina! Especially the big fat ones. Garbanzos used to be a staple crop on the Meseta; families almost lived on them through winter. Sadly in the 20th century foreign policy/crop subsidies made imported garbanzos cheaper than the local product, which was smaller and less appealing to the consumer anyway. Garbanzos are also pretty labor-intensive to harvest and processs for the market, so local growers simply stopped growing them.

A few organic farmers in the neighborhood still grow a few hectares every few years. I once helped with the harvest, and it was backbreaking work -- the beans have to be threshed: spread out on the ground and run over with a trillo (the big boards with sharp stones set into the grain; you may've seen them reused as rustic tables and doors.) Then you have to throw them up into the air to seperate the chaff from the beans. And then you have to shovel them up into a bag and let them dry. Ufff! All that, when a jar costs 60 centimos!
Good luck, LTFit, with your garbanzo-growing enterprise!

 

[Damien Reynolds]

A great deal of the garbanzos sold in Spain are, alas, imported from Argentina! Especially the big fat ones. Garbanzos used to be a staple crop on the Meseta; families almost lived on them through winter. Sadly in the 20th century foreign policy/crop subsidies made imported garbanzos cheaper than the local product, which was smaller and less appealing to the consumer anyway. Garbanzos are also pretty labor-intensive to harvest and processs for the market, so local growers simply stopped growing them.

A few organic farmers in the neighborhood still grow a few hectares every few years. I once helped with the harvest, and it was backbreaking work -- the beans have to be threshed: spread out on the ground and run over with a trillo (the big boards with sharp stones set into the grain; you may've seen them reused as rustic tables and doors.) Then you have to throw them up into the air to seperate the chaff from the beans. And then you have to shovel them up into a bag and let them dry. Ufff! All that, when a jar costs 60 centimos!
Good luck, LTFit, with your garbanzo-growing enterprise!

I can pay like 29 centamos more for a "locally grown" version, at Ieast according to the labels at the store. I was just always too cheap earlier this year. I mean you kind of guilted me out on that one.

 

[J Willhaus]

A great deal of the garbanzos sold in Spain are, alas, imported from Argentina! Especially the big fat ones. Garbanzos used to be a staple crop on the Meseta; families almost lived on them through winter. Sadly in the 20th century foreign policy/crop subsidies made imported garbanzos cheaper than the local product, which was smaller and less appealing to the consumer anyway. Garbanzos are also pretty labor-intensive to harvest and processs for the market, so local growers simply stopped growing them.

A few organic farmers in the neighborhood still grow a few hectares every few years. I once helped with the harvest, and it was backbreaking work -- the beans have to be threshed: spread out on the ground and run over with a trillo (the big boards with sharp stones set into the grain; you may've seen them reused as rustic tables and doors.) Then you have to throw them up into the air to seperate the chaff from the beans. And then you have to shovel them up into a bag and let them dry. Ufff! All that, when a jar costs 60 centimos!
Good luck, LTFit, with your garbanzo-growing enterprise!

Saw the threshing boards in the restaurant in San Nicholas near your hometown...they were part of the decor.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I can pay like 29 centamos more for a "locally grown" version, at Ieast according to the labels at the store. I was just always too cheap earlier this year. I mean you kind of guilted me out on that one.

Yikes. Didn't mean to! But it does pay to support your local farmer!