Fabes con Almejas

Fabes con almejas is Asturian, and Asturias knows how to put mountain and sea in the same pot without making a fuss of it. The fabes, fat white beans cooked until creamy, give the dish its body. The almejas, clams, go in at the end with garlic, parsley, white wine, and a little pimentón, just long enough to open. That is what makes it this dish and not a fabada with the pork taken out.

The method that decides it is the timing. Cook the beans first, low and quiet, until they are tender all the way through and the broth has turned silky. Then add the clams only at the finish. If they boil along with the beans, they go tight and sulky. If they open in the hot bean broth, they give you their liquor and stay sweet. Simple, but not casual.

No hace falta haber pisado España. You do need the best beans and clams you can get. Fabes de la granja are right if you can find them; large dried cannellini work if you cannot, though the broth will be a little less buttery. For clams, buy small live hard-shell clams or littlenecks, scrub them well, and purge them. Pésalo, no lo adivines. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

In the Margin beside this one I keep only two warnings: do not boil the beans hard, and do not make the clams wait. That is enough.