Spanish Bean Soup
ACTUAL Spanish Bean Soup of the Famous Columbian restaurant in Ybor TAMPA
Ingredients
½ lb. uncooked garbanzo beans, dried (also called chickpeas) or (2 or 3 cans garbanzo beans drained)1 ham bone or 1 Tbsp ham bouillon
1 beef bone or 1 Tbsp beef bouillon
1 or 2 quarts water less or more depending on how much soup you want
salt to taste
¼ lb. salt pork, cut in thin strips or 1 or 2 packages smoked sausage
1 onion, finely chopped
1 chorizo (Spanish sausage), sliced in thin rounds I use 1 tube ground pork/beef chorizo
2 or 3 potatoes, diced
A pinch of saffron turmeric and paprika is a substitute for saffron if none available tsp of each at least
½ teaspoon paprika if using with saffron
Instructions
Wash garbanzo beans. Soak overnight with 1 tablespoon salt in enough water to cover beans. Drain the salted water from the beans. Place beans in a 4-quart soup kettle; add 2 quarts of water and ham and beef bones. Cook for 45 minutes over low heat, skimming foam from the top. fry salt pork slowly in a skilled. Add chopped onion and sauté lightly. Add to beans along with potatoes, paprika, and saffron. Add salt to taste. When potatoes are tender, remove from heat and add chorizo. Serve hot in deep soup bowls. Serves 4.How Columbia’s Spanish Bean Soup was created.*
Casimiro Hernandez Senior founded Columbia Restaurant in Tampa’s Historic Ybor City in 1905. He was of Spanish ancestry and was very knowledgeable about Spanish cuisine. He took the classic cocido madrileno, a boiled Spanish equivalent of French pot-au-feu. Cocido was traditionally served in two steps, first the broth, then the main course of meats, garbanzo, and potatoes. He came up with the idea that all should be served together. That’s what became Spanish Bean Soup. It’s from Tampa. You cannot order Spanish Bean Soup in Spain. They don’t know what it is. Today Spanish Bean Soup is a favorite dish found in all six Columbia Restaurants located in Florida. This was created circa 1910.
Source: The Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook, by Adela Hernandez Gonzmart and Ferdie Pacheco; 1995. University Press of Florida.
INSTANT POT VERSION:
Wash beans, soak in water with a douse of lemon juice for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Drain and rinse beans. Add all other ingredients. Verify flavor and water. Pressure 15 mins. Let pressure release naturally. Once the lid is able to remove, stir and taste for additional seasonings.
Serve with oven bread of choice.