String Beans, Preserved in Salt
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beans
Cut off the ends and string the beans.
Parboil the beans in plenty of water for 2 minutes.
Immerse them in cold water and drain on a sieve, then dry on a towel.
Salt and store
In a keg or barrel, layer salt and beans alternately until full.
Press down the cover to compress the beans.
The next day, add more beans as they will have settled.
If there is too much water, drain half off and add more salt.
Cover with a cloth and secure the top tightly.
Store in a cool place.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Small fresh plucked beans
- Form the main body of the preserve, softening slightly when parboiled and becoming tender-crisp over time.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the beans and preserves them, keeping them from spoiling during storage.
The step that matters
Layering salt and beans in the barrel. Salt must be distributed evenly between the beans. Salt draws water out through osmosis, so gaps or too little salt let the beans spoil. Compressing the layers and topping up as they settle keeps the beans fully submerged in their own brine, which protects them from air.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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