food.wikisort.org - Dish

Birnen, Bohnen und Speck ("pears, beans and bacon") is a North German dish which is especially popular in the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Hamburg. It also goes under the names of Bohnen, Birnen und Speck and, locally, the Low German names of Grööner Hein and Grönen Heini (lit: "Green Harry"). The ingredients required mean that the dish is mainly eaten in the months of August and September.

Birnen, Bohnen und Speck

Type	Stew
Place of origin	Germany
Region or state	North Germany
Main ingredients	Pears, beans, bacon, potatoes
Media: Birnen, Bohnen und Speck

The dish is a type of stew, in which—as the name indicates—the main ingredients are pears, beans and speck (a kind of bacon).[1] In North German country kitchens, potatoes would also be added, even though they are not specifically mentioned.

Ingredients

Generally cut French beans (Brechbohnen) are used. In Hamburg on the markets occasionally "Turkish peas" may be found, despite its name a Vierlande bean variety that used to be frequently used for this dish.[2] During preparation several sprigs of savory are added to the beans.

The pears used for this dish are cooking pears which would otherwise be inedible eaten as fruit in their own right. They are small, green, rock-hard and do not have the sweetness and juiciness of the popular eating varieties. These pears are mainly found at markets and in small vegetable shops. In the Hamburg area, other varieties are used: the Vierländer and the rather sweeter Finkenwerder cooking pears. The Vierländer sort have a slightly firmer consistency after cooking which is preferred by many. These cooking pears are only available from July to September, subject to the weather. As a last resort for those who have missed the right season, Bürgermeisterbirne pears may be used. They are not as sweet when raw and are clearly sweeter.

The bacon used is streaky and smoky. Here, too, it is important if the dish is to taste its best not to use 'any old bacon'. Its source, whether from the Vierlande, the Black Forest or Tyrol, is immaterial; all are suitable and offer a variety of interesting flavours. The deciding factor is the storage of the bacon. Only streaky bacon that has been air-dried and stored produces, when cooked, that pleasant taste of seasoned fat that melts in the mouth. Bacon that has been stored hygienically in a vacuum wrapper, as is common practice today, only produces a sort of fibrous stringiness after being cooked.

The Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein preference is to add potatoes to their Bohnen, Birnen und Speck that are still firm when cooked, such as the Cilena or Linda varieties. In Land Hadeln beef or lamb can also be cooked along with the bacon.

Preparation

According to taste, the bacon is placed either in complete strips or cut up into water which is then brought to the boil. Meanwhile, the beans are cleaned, washed and cut into sections. After 25 minutes of cooking, the beans are added together with the savory to the bacon and cooking continues. The flowers are removed from the pears, but the stalks are left on. The pears are left with their skins on throughout. They are then laid on the beans and everything is cooked together.

The peeled potatoes are boiled separately in salted water or cooked together with the rest of the stew.[3] Towards the end of the overall cooking time of about 50 minutes, some flour is mixed with water, poured into the pot and briefly boiled up.

Typical quantities for four people are:

• 750 g beans
• 500 g pears
• 400 g bacon
• 500 g potatoes
• 1 sprig of savory
• 2 tablespoons of flour

Each person is served one or two pears, a good portion of bacon, beans and potatoes and broth according to preference. A fresh beer goes well with the dish.

There are variations that do away with the savory, but add freshly chopped parsley towards the end, which use broth instead of water for cooking (ready-made or home-made) or which use pepper.

See also

• Blindhuhn – Westphalian vegetable and bacon stew
• List of stews

References

External links

• Birnen, Bohnen und Speck or My German Genes
• Pears, String Beans and Bacon

На других языках

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- [en] Birnen, Bohnen und Speck

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[es] Birnen, Bohnen und Speck

El plato de la gastronomía alemana conocido como Birnen, Bohnen und Speck significa en alemán: peras, judías verdes y bacon, se suele denominar también en el dialecto de la región como: "Grööner Hein", es muy conocido en Schleswig-Holstein, Baja Sajonia, Mecklemburgo-Pomerania Occidental y sobre todo en Hamburgo. Debido a los principales ingredientes que contiene este plato se prepara sólo en los meses de agosto y septiembre. El origen de este plato parece ser campesino, y según parece se elaboraba cuando estos tres ingredientes estaban disponibles en el campo.

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[ru] Груши, фасоль и бекон

«Груши, фасоль и бекон» (нем. Birnen, Bohnen und Speck, также н.-нем. Gröner Hein[2] — «Зелёный Генрих») — густой суп айнтопф, популярное блюдо в Шлезвиг-Гольштейне, Нижней Саксонии, Мекленбурге и Гамбурге. Обычно «груши, фасоль и бекон» готовят в августе и сентябре, когда в наличии имеются указанные в названии ингредиенты. В названии не учтён картофель, который был постоянным продуктом питания в крестьянских семьях на Севере Германии. «Груши, фасоль и бекон» удивляет своим особым комбинированным сладковато-горьковатым копчёным вкусом[3]. Похожее по составу блюдо в вестфальской кухне называется «слепая курица».

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