Fresh Rioja Beans

In late summer the regions of Rioja and southern Navarre celebrate the arrival of the pocha, a fresh white bean that’s sold in its withering pod. “Hay pochas”, “we’ve got beans”, announced the sign outside a tiny restaurant in a Logroño back street. The place was packed, so I finished up sharing a table with hungry Juan, an ageing pocha enthusiast.

Today’s dish was vegetarian but Juan assured me that, further south in Tudela, eels were a common accompaniment. In