Cook and Drink

The traditional way of eating Fava Beans in the Netherlands is by combining them with an herb called ‘bonenkruid’. The name isn’t very helpful, it translates into ‘bean herb’, so it’s ‘beans with bean herb’. The tradition is based on the idea that the herb would help your body digest the fava beans and that it would compensate for the bitterness of the inner skin of the beans.

Given its name we didn’t pay too much attention to ‘bean herb’, until we saw it in France, where it’s called ‘sarriette’. In English it’s ‘satureja’ or ‘savory’. It turns out to be a very tasty herb, related to rosemary and thyme. It is one of the main herbs in Herbes de Provence, together with marjoram, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.

Its history goes back to Roman times, when it was one of the main ingredients of Garum (or Liquamen), the fermented fish sauce that was used to flavour food. Amongst the herbs used in garum are cilantro, dill, fennel, celery, mint, thyme, oregano and clary sage. The Romans also used satureja as an aphrodisiac.

In her book Van Soeter Cokene Professor Van Winter describes a recipe from 1430 for Crustade, a pie with veal, various herbs (satureja, sage, parsley, hyssop) and spices such as cinnamon, saffron, cloves and mace. According to Van Winter one of the first recipes to combine (green) herbs with spices.

Our ‘bonenkruid’ has much more potential than we expected!
We decided to combine it with slowly baked waxy potatoes. They will be very crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The satureja makes it into a very light, uplifting side dish, great with Coq au Vin or a hearty stew.

What You Need

• Waxy Potatoes
• Satureja
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• (optional) Black Pepper

What You Do

1. Peel the potatoes, wash and cook until not yet done
2. Let cool
3. Heat a heavy iron pan
4. Add butter and olive oil
5. Chop the satureja
6. Slice the potatoes, not too thin, add to the pan and fry on medium heat
7. Turn the slices every one or two minutes. The potatoes should become very crispy, a touch golden but not brown
8. When ready to serve, add ¾ of the satureja and mix
9. Add black pepper (if using)
10. Serve and add the remainder of the satureja

PS

Making your own garum is perhaps not the most obvious thing to do. We made it once, many years ago. It turned out to be a very tasty and subtle condiment, despite the fairly present aroma.