9 February: Days to Harvest – 11
Michael and I ‘launched’ our Edible Gems to our trade customers last week in Sydney and Brisbane. We also did a small media launch in Sydney as well. One of the things I really wanted to show people was the difference between cooked fresh borlotti beans vs soaking/cooking dried borlotti beans vs cooking canned borlotti beans. If you’ve never had or cooked with a fresh borlotti bean before, it is hard to imagine the difference between the three.
At both the trade and media launches, everyone was AMAZED by the difference between the three types. The taste, the look, the texture… I know I am biased towards fresh, but seriously, there is no comparison.
Our fresh borlotti beans stay whole with skins intact during cooking. They also turn a beige, almost pale mauve colour as they cook. This is natural. Now take the dried. I soaked them over night and was pretty unhappy with what was in the pot. Skins were cracked, beans were broken – not a pretty site and hard to cook successfully. During simmering, the dried beans produced an odourous foam that almost took over the pan – fresh beans do not do that. Once cooked, the texture of the dried bean was almost mush. The re-hydration process breaks the skin, which significantly impacts how firm they cook up.
The canned borlotti was a completely different story. First, the cans had to be drained of their soupy, salty mixture, then rinsed. The first thing that struck me was the colour; almost a caramel colour. That is not a natural borlotti colour, which makes me wonder where that colour came from! Also, the texture was almost mush out of the can, so I didn’t even try cooking with them.
I thought the results of the cook off were so significant, that I filmed a short YouTube video with the results – see the Recipe section of the website, YouTube videos. Ignore the fact my video isn’t ‘professional’ please. It is me, cooking up these various forms of beans in my kitchen and telling you straight just what I think about the them. No hair stylist, no makeup – just me.
Look – I know sometimes canned or dried is all you can get. At least, until now. If you are a bean lover and you love our fresh borlotti beans, then stock up between 20 Feb and May and simply put the packs straight into your freezer. They freeze beautifully and can be cooked from frozen. Once you’ve tried the fresh borlotti, seriously, you will never go back.
Jina
Thanks for sharing this info. I came across your site yesterday when I was boiling dried borlotti beans for the first time. They were tasty, but now I’m looking forward to trying your fresh ones to try the difference. Thanks for mentioning that they can be frozen too.
Hi and thanks for your note. Did you know we have some video posted in the Recipe Section – You Tube videos that shows the difference between dried, canned and fresh? You will be surprised by both the taste and texture differences. I am not sure where you are based, but we are hoping to have our fresh borlotti’s on specialty retailer and greengrocer shelves within the next 48 hours or so. We would love fo ryou to try them and do your own taste test! As for freezing, its my trick. I freeze a whole bunch when the fresh are in season, then just open a new pack as required during the winter. I’ve held some in my freezer for 6-7 months, with no noticeable decline in quality. Please explore the website – some yummy salad ideas, dips as well as my famous Pasta Fagioli. And, if you are on Facebook, we’d love for you to visit and Like the site.
I’m in Brisbane at the moment, so will hunt for them and get back to you once I’ve given them a go – looking forward to it!