You cannot even begin to compare fresh and dried garbanzos. The sweetness of the fresh ones are incredible. I love snacking on them raw, but a quick saute or blanch is all that is needed for preparation, no soaking and boiling forever. We will be approaching this product from several different angles. In true Mexican style of fire roasted in the pod, wrapped in paper for a street food feel with a little lemon and dried chile to adaptations of hummus that I experienced in Israel. It's hard to make exceptional hummus here in the states mostly due to the bitter tahini and the quality of their fresh pressed olive oils are impossible to beat. The traditional hummus served there is made with dried chickpeas and is usually served as breakfast with the main consumption going to the Arab population. It is cheap and used as a source of energy to get them through a hard days work. One trick that was common place in all the hummus restaurants was that they add 1 teas baking powder to the pot during the cooking process to soften the skins and give their finished puree a silken texture. We will make our own tahini and frix air it to add another dimension and texture to the finished dish.
whoa. i have never had fresh garbanzos like that. damn i need to get to florida to eat soon.
ReplyDeleteCraig, we've got them everywhere in San Francisco, too. I had never seen them until this year, but they are fantastic! They've got that subtlely sweet, funky savoriness like small fava beans. In fact, they're a lot like fava beans in every way.
ReplyDeleteChef, how has your kitchen been prepping them? I started out like favas: shell, blanch, shock, peel, then hold for service. But then I tried it once without the final peel step and, although you don't get the bright green color of the beans inside, the flavor wasn't really too diminished.
We've done several different preparations, the best so far has been compressing them several times with extra virgin and fleur de sel, then giving them a quick saute or just mixed into a cold salad. Blanching does remove the slight starchiness of the raw chickpea, but I personally don't mind. The texture and the sweetness are awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I experienced them was last September at the Santa Monica farmers market. We were there cooking for the executive of the LA County Fair of all things but unlimited budget for whatever we want. Live Korean halibut, wild lupe de mer, brittany blues, white truffles, st. pierre, kobe, you name it. I'm supposeed to go again this year, we'll see.
Fresh Garbanzo peas are available in North-central India in spring. In March they are roasted while still on the branch, in campfire on the festival of 'Holi' that celebrates spring. Children sit in groups and pass time eating them. You have to peel off the skin of the pod. Pod generally has 1 seed. They taste great.
ReplyDeleteThey are also used as a soup. You puree the beans and cook them in a pan with butter and salt. Season to your taste with whatever you like . It is a delicious soup and called
'Cholia'. 'Chole' is the word for garnazo bean.