Käferbohnensalat
“Cooked Styrian 'beetle beans' (large purple-flecked runner beans) tossed with onion, pumpkin-seed oil, vinegar, salt. The everyday lunch salad of Graz.”
Where it comes from
Käferbohne (Phaseolus coccineus) grown in Styria has its own PDO — distinctive purple speckled coat earns the name. Salad has been farmhouse lunch since the 1800s.
On the plate
Creamy soft beans coated in deep-green pumpkin-seed oil; sharp onion bites cut through the richness.
How it works
Long soaking + long boiling fully tenderizes the large beans; pumpkin-seed oil + vinegar dressing has the right viscosity to coat without pooling.
Variations
With smoked bacon (Speckbohnensalat) is the Carinthian version. With pickled gherkin adds tangy crunch.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
4 steps · Show ↓20 min active · 720 min waiting
How it's made
4 steps · Show ↓- 1720 min
Soak 300 g Styrian Käferbohnen overnight; drain.
- 290 min
Boil in fresh water 1.5 hr until tender; drain and cool.
- 33 min
Slice 1 large red onion paper-thin; rinse to mellow.
- 430 min
Toss beans + onion with 80 ml pumpkin-seed oil + 30 ml apple cider vinegar + 1 tsp salt + pepper; rest 30 min.
