How to Cook Beans

For a definitive discussion of the issues, you can’t do better than to listen to Steve Sando, who founded Rancho Gordo, a purveyor of heirloom legumes in Napa, California. Steve has not only sourced some of the greatest beans grown and written about them in several excellent books, he’s been cooking them for years, all kinds of them and, as an engaged and engaging cook, his observations and experience are comprehensive. One of the things I love that Steve stresses is how delicious the unadulterated bean broth is. If you’ve got great beans, you really don’t need anything more for flavor. An onion and a carrot, maybe a bay leaf, add to it, but really the broth gets most of its flavor from the beans. Get some really good beans and just cook them in about four times the amount of water. Add a couple pinches of salt, and they’re terrific—no other seasonings required. And the smaller beans can go from the bag into your belly in an hour and a half.