Fabes con Calamares

Fabes con calamares is Asturian, from the same wet northern table that gives us fabada, but this is not fabada with the meat taken out. Here the fabes de la granja, fat white beans, meet squid, its ink, a slow onion sofrito, and a little sidra or white wine. It tastes of Asturias by the sea, not the mountain pot with compango.

The method that decides it is gentleness. The beans need a bare tremble, never a boil, until they turn creamy without bursting. The squid wants the same respect: cooked either quickly or slowly, but never bullied in the middle where it turns rubbery. In this stew we go slow, letting it soften into the sofrito before it joins the beans.

If you can't find fabes where you are, use a large dried white bean, judion if you can, cannellini if that's what the shop gives you. The broth will be a little less buttery, but it will still be honest. For the squid, frozen cleaned squid is fine, and often better than tired fresh squid. Keep the ink if you have it, or buy sachets of squid ink. No hace falta haber pisado España.

Cook the sofrito low until the onion is dark gold and jammy, because that is where the sweetness comes from. Rush it and the ink tastes flat and sharp. Then let the pot rest before serving, so the fabes drink the sea-dark sauce. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.