Pears, beans and bacon
The dish with the name pears, beans and bacon or beans, pears and bacon , regionally also with the Low German names "Beer'n, Boh'n un Speck" , "Grö (ö) ner Hein" , "Grönen Heini" " Gröön Hinnerk ” , is known mainly in the Schleswig-Holstein , Lower Saxony , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Hamburg area. Due to the necessary ingredients, the dish can be prepared in its original form primarily in August and September.
It is a kind of stew , the main ingredients in which are pears , beans and bacon . The potatoes not mentioned in the name are an integral part of North German rural cuisine .
ingredients
Pears
The pears that go with this dish are cooked pears . They are small, green, rock-hard and do not have the sweetness and juiciness of the popular noble varieties and therefore only taste good when cooked. These pears are mainly available in markets and small vegetable stores. In the Hamburg area, the four-country pears and the slightly sweeter Finkenwerder pears are offered as variations, as well as some old varieties from the old country . The Vierländer variety has a slightly firmer consistency after cooking, which is preferred by many. These cooked pears are only available from July to September, depending on the weather. As a last resort for those who missed the right time, pears of the Mayor's pear variety are ideal . However, they are not as hard and much sweeter in the uncooked state.
Beans
Most often, broken green beans ( green beans ) are used. In Hamburg you can occasionally still find “ Turkish peas ” on the markets , a type of bean from four countries that was previously mainly used for this dish. The bean variety, the origin of which is unclear, was the name giver for the dish, which was sometimes referred to as Türcksche peas . A few sprigs of savory are also added to the beans during preparation .
bacon
The bacon used is streaky smoked pork belly . From the origin - for example from the Vierlanden, the Black Forest or Tyrol - all varieties are suitable and offer variations in taste, as well as smoked pork cheek . The key point, however, is where the bacon is stored. Only the streaky bacon, dried in the air and stored, brings the pleasant dissolution of the cooked fat layer on the tongue. Bacon, which, as is increasingly common today, has been hygienically stored in vacuum foil, becomes fibrous and tough after cooking.
Further supplements
In accordance with the Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein preferences, waxy potatoes - cooked separately - are served with pears, beans and bacon. In the Land of Hadeln , besides bacon, beef and lamb are also cooked.
preparation
If you like, the bacon can be whole or cut into portions, placed on top with enough water and brought to the boil. Meanwhile, the beans are cleaned, washed and broken into pieces. After about 25 minutes of cooking, the beans are added to the bacon together with the savory and cooked with them. Only the buds are removed from the pears, but the stems are left in place, so that the skin of the pears remains intact and holds them together until the end. The pears are now placed on the beans and everything is cooked together.
Meanwhile, the peeled potatoes are boiled separately in salted water. Towards the end of the entire cooking time of approx. 50 minutes, some more flour is whisked with water, stirred into the broth and briefly boiled.
One or two pears, a good portion of bacon and beans, as well as potatoes and cooking broth are served on the plate for each person. A fresh beer goes well with it as a drink.
Variations do without the savory, but add fresh chopped parsley at the end , use broth instead of the cooking water (ready-made or self-cooked) or taste with pepper .
literature
- Tom Dieck: Pottkieker. 50 classic north German dishes with a history . Koehler, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7822-1079-9 , pp. 56-57 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eckhard Supp : Duden. Dictionary culinary arts. From amuse-bouche to decorative snow . Dudenverlag, Mannheim a. a. 2011, ISBN 978-3-411-70392-0 , Chapter: Regional dishes in German-speaking countries , p. 88 .
- ↑ Eckhard Supp : Duden. Dictionary culinary arts. From amuse-bouche to decorative snow . Dudenverlag, Mannheim a. a. 2011, ISBN 978-3-411-70392-0 , Chapter: Regional dishes in German-speaking countries , p. 97 .