Potaje de Jaramagos Canario

Potaje de jaramagos is Canarian, from the islands where the winter rains bring up wild mustard greens and a household pot knows what to do with them. It shares the bones of a potaje de berros: beans, potato, pumpkin, corn, a little pork if the larder allows, and a majado of garlic and cumin. But jaramagos are sharper, more bitter, and that is the point. This is not watercress stew with another name.

The method that decides it is the green. Pick young jaramagos before they flower, strip away the tough stems, wash them hard, and chop them small enough to soften into the pot. If you throw in old, stringy greens, no sofrito will save you. Cook the onion, pepper, tomato, and pimentón slowly first, until the base turns dark and sweet, because that sweetness is what holds the bitterness in balance.

If you're far from the Canaries, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use young mustard greens if you can find them, or a mix of rapini and turnip greens. The stew will be a little less wild and a little greener in flavor, but it will still stand in the right place if you keep the cumin, garlic, pumpkin, potato, and corn. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.