Caricos Montañeses

Caricos Montañeses are Cantabria's red bean stew, not cocido montañés and not a fabada in another coat. The beans are the point: small, round, reddish caricos from the valleys around Cabuérniga, with thin skins and a creamy inside when you treat them gently.

The method that decides the dish is the simmer. Soak the beans well, start them in cold water, and keep the pot at a quiet tremble, never a hard boil. Boil them hard and the skins split, the broth goes rough, and you've lost the thing that makes caricos so good. Low heat gives you whole beans in a thick, brick-red broth scented with pimentón and a little cumin.

If you can't find true caricos where you are, use small dried red beans, cranberry beans, or borlotti. They won't be as delicate, and they may take longer, but the dish still works if you soak them and keep the heat kind. No hace falta haber pisado España. Con buenos ingredientes y paciencia, it comes out.

In my Margin for this one I wrote only this: do not hurry the bean. It sounds too plain, but that's the recipe. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.