Ganxet white bean

“The white bean called “gantxet” is genuinely from this place where it has been cultivated for more than a hundred years. They are planted in the month of July, their poses climbs up the canes that laboriously, one by one, the farmer has to plant in each bush forming "cages" of four united canes and tied high up for support. Its flower is white, its threads grow quickly and vigorously climbing the guide wrapping it to be able to unfold soon its green pods in whose interior the seeds germinate, the grain itself, the beans. The grain is first green, growing and maturing it becomes until it reaches a brilliant, glassy white. The pod also changes color over the weeks and its cycle, from a pure green to a variety of yellowish tones that end in straw ocher with the entrance of autumn and the first cold temperatures drying the plant, ending its cycle. Inside are the white seeds that also dry and harden. It is an extraordinarily delicate moment, if it rains too much, they get stained and lose their value. In mid-October the plants are uprooted and piled in the center of the cane cage. There the hanging plants remain, almost dry, with their fruits inside, exposed to the first autumn winds so that they dry completely; the sheath is like paper. Then it is harvested. It is a manual harvest. They start the white hair separating them from the dry skeins that form the coiled plants with the pods full of fruit. They are piled up in a place with a hard base, formerly a threshing floor, and they step on it, before with animals, today with tractors; then they are beaten so that no grain remains and, finally, with the pitchforks, the dried plant is lifted and decanted, leaving the white crystalline grain below. of the harvest, as if it had snowed. They are then collected and bagged, after which it is necessary to separate those grains that may be deformed, broken, stained. There are machines that are capable of doing it. Before, it was a completely manual task. Men and women from the field gathered At dusk on a long table near a good fire that warmed and patiently skillfully separated the good grains from the bad ones while they told each other things, joked, or even prayed the rosary.

The result is an extraordinary white bean. It is called the “gantxet” because its kidney-shaped heart is very marked, it has the shape of a hook, in Catalan: “gantxo”. This is how they can be distinguished by sight, but you have to pay attention so as not to make a mistake. It would be a tragedy. Not only are these extraordinary legumes different from the eye, but their intense but soft and persistent vegetable flavor, and their velvety texture, the skin is practically imperceptible. It offers enormous healthy benefits: vitamin B, fiber, proteins and carbohydrates, in times of difficulties they were the main nutritional base of the people of the countryside of this area.

In this way it has reached the table of the best restaurants, many of which put them as a prima donna on their menus. It can be cooked in infinite ways, always after a few hours of soaking and boiling. Alone, coming out of the saucepan, with olive oil and boiled potatoes, they are wonderful. But still passed by the pan with a few pieces of bacon, sautéed. As an accompaniment to a sausage or any grilled meat; and cold, with salads, with cod crumbled raw, the famous “empedrat”. Also stewed, or in the broth, with the soup, in winter. Either way they are exquisite and here is their genuine place. Let's not miss the opportunity to enjoy them."