The black-eye bean, the oldest and came from Africa

Among the oldest legumes we have chickpeas and black-eye beans (Vigna unguiculata). The latter are the only bean or kidney bean that did not come to us from America, but from Africa and have been consumed since the time of the Romans, who called them Dolichos and considered them a food of aristocratic prestige, unlike chickpeas, which were the food of the humblest classes, and even slaves.

The Romans ate black-eye beans seasoned with olive oil, salt and cumin, a dish that we still eat today in Menorca, but without cumin, which we have replaced with a garlic and parsley sauce, seasoned with olive oil, salt and sweet paprika. There are also those who put a hard-boiled egg and, more recently, tuna or anchovies, as is done on the Catalan coast. There is also a variety of the black-eye bean dish where we can make a sauce of roasted tomatoes, stale bread or toast, garlic cloves, parsley, a little of the broth from boiling the beans and olive oil, all finely chopped in a mortar, as was done in the past or currently with a blender.

These beans are also consumed in Portugal, North Africa, Greece, Turkey and the Middle East, just as they are unknown in French and Spanish cuisine, as indicated by the great gourmet and one of the greatest researchers and writers on cooking, Jaume Fàbrega, while in Italy their consumption is limited to the Milan area, where it is known as cicerchia, it was one of the favourite foods of the well-off Milanese class in the 13th century.

In Catalan-speaking regions this type of bean has several names, some of them surprising. Depending on where you order them, they will be haricot beans, banyolines, beans, bañanes, black-eyed beans, careta beans, careta beans (Mallorca), caretos, caragidos, escurçatites or zapatillas de puta.

In Menorca, one of the typical dishes is alubias de careta with pumpkin, one of the old and festive delicacies in Alaior, where these were the food to celebrate the feast of San Diego by the Franciscan friars, who distributed the pot of beans among the poorest.

In the Mahón area, lamb breast is added to the beans with pumpkin and they were eaten for San Cristóbal.

Other typical dishes made with this legume in Menorca are beans cooked with pork ribs and sobrasada; alubias carillas with spinach or in the old style among other dishes. In the book “Sa cuina des poble de Menorca” you will find some Menorcan recipes and preparations.

SCARE BEANS
Beans, as legumes, have a peculiarity in cooking that must be scared. This consists of adding cold water when we boil them in order to stop the cooking and bring them back to the boil, in the same way that we have to change the cooking water a couple of times until it is no longer cloudy.

APHRODISIAC
In certain places, black-eye beans have a well-deserved reputation as an aphrodisiac, and it was said that women cooked them for their husbands when they wanted to have sexual relations, perhaps that is where they get the name of whore's shoes, in La Garrotxa, or escurçatites, which means that it makes the "tita" get up in Maresme.

THE OTHER BLACK-EYED BEANS
In Menorca, the nickname or nickname of the inhabitants of Alaior is guixons or guixoners, as there is also the saying “be careful with this one, it has two faces, like the guixons*”.

As you can see, this legume has a good number of names and also preparations depending on the region, country or area where it is consumed.

Guixó is what this bean is called in Menorcan