Recipe no. 16 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 17.
Ingredients
- 1/2 kg of dried white beans
- Water (for soaking)
- 3 litres of cold water
- Hot water
- Salt
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves
- 1/2 litre of cold water
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- White part of 2 or 3 leeks
- Bean broth
Preparation
- SoakingAfter having set half a kilo of dried white beans to soak the evening before in a few litres of water.
- First cookingDrain them, put them into a stockpot with 3 litres of cold water, set on the heat and let boil a few minutes.
- Changing the waterDrain off their water and replace it with the same quantity of hot water. Add the necessary salt and 1 onion studded with 2 cloves.
- Slow cookingWhen they begin to boil, add half a litre of cold water; this has the effect of making the beans that float sink back down, and helps them cook through evenly; cover and let cook over low heat.
- Preparing the leeksSeparately, put into a pan 2 tablespoons of oil, the white part of 2 or 3 leeks cut into 4 and sliced, brown for a few moments over the heat without letting it colour, moisten with a few spoonfuls of the bean broth, pour the whole into the stockpot and let cook.
- FinishAt the last moment, when the beans are, so to speak, falling apart, strain the whole through a sieve, having first removed the cloves. Keep warm until serving time.
Reboul's text
After having set half a kilo of dried white beans to soak the evening before in a few litres of water, drain them, put them into a stockpot with 3 litres of cold water, set on the heat and let boil a few minutes.
Then drain off their water and replace it with the same quantity of hot water. Add the necessary salt and 1 onion studded with 2 cloves.
When they begin to boil, add half a litre of cold water; this has the effect of making the beans that float sink back down, and helps them cook through evenly; cover and let cook over low heat.
Separately, put into a pan 2 tablespoons of oil, the white part of 2 or 3 leeks cut into 4 and sliced, brown for a few moments over the heat without letting it colour, moisten with a few spoonfuls of the bean broth, pour the whole into the stockpot and let cook.
At the last moment, when the beans are, so to speak, falling apart, strain the whole through a sieve, having first removed the cloves. Keep warm until serving time.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| atrempa | soak |
| faviòu | beans |
| oulo | stockpot |
| aigo | water |
| bouie | boil |
| agouta | drain |
| sau | salt |
| cebo | onion |
| girofle | clove |
| casseto | pan |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 16, page 17. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.