GREEN BEANS
Altamiras opened his long chapter dedicated to kitchen-garden vegetables with a sequence of greens or yerbas running from chard to peas boiled in their pods. Such greenery was despised at wealthy tables so the recipes are unusual for their time, and since they are almost vegan they probably originated as part of the friary repertoire for meatless feast days. Nonetheless,they are far from frugal, making clever and varied use of olive oil to add lusciousness. For his green beans Altamiras made a rehogado with sweated onion, cooking everything gently together so the beans could suck up the onions’ and oil’s flavour. What I’ve noticed about all these dishes is that they are as good served warm as hot, and I wonder if he intended them to be eaten that way, especially in summer?