Fabada Asturiana

Asturias, the green northern Spanish region above the Cantabrian coast, where the fabe de la granja bean has been cultivated since the 16th century after New World legumes arrived. The dish itself crystallized in the late 19th century — written recipes appear from the 1880s — as Asturian miners and farmers needed a one-pot meal heavy enough for cold mountain shifts. PGI status came in 1990 for the bean.

Asturian bean stew — fabes de la granja (a specific large white bean, IGP-protected), morcilla, chorizo, lacón (cured pork shoulder), saffron. The 'compango' (the meat trio) is what defines it; the beans must come from Asturias.

A deep bowl of pale ivory beans the size of a thumbnail, swimming in cloudy orange-tinted broth flecked with paprika oil. Three pieces of compango sit on top: chorizo (smoked, paprika-red), morcilla (black blood sausage), and lacón or tocino (cured pork shoulder or fatback). Beans break in the mouth, skin still intact. One spoon of broth, then a piece of sausage, then bean.

The bean is load-bearing, not the meat. Fabe de la granja are flat, large, thin-skinned, and unusually starchy — they release enough starch to thicken the broth without falling apart, which ordinary white beans can't do. Soak overnight, then "scare" with cold water three times during simmer (asustar) to keep skins intact. No stirring with a spoon — shake the pot. A boil that's too hard and the beans split.