Return of the mammoth bean: A culinary comeback

Mammoth beans are soft after cooking, more delicate than green beans, and sweeter. They taste best with a fried egg and boiled potatoes. Add a generous handful of dill and a full glass of kefir, and you have a complete family meal.

Mammoth beans have much broader and flatter pods compared to classic green beans. They take on a colour ranging from light green to green-yellow and, most importantly, do not contain string. This means that mammoth beans, even when very ripe, remain soft. Moreover, their taste is sweeter and more delicate than classic green beans.

Mammoth beans are best suited for direct consumption and less for freezing or pickling. Cooking or steaming them is a better option, as the loss of vitamins will be lower. You can serve mammoth beans like green beans, for example, with breadcrumbs. My favourite way to prepare mammoth beans is to cook them in clarified butter with garlic.

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of mammoth green beans,
• 1 litre of water,
• 4 cloves of garlic,
• salt, coarsely ground pepper,
• 1-2 tablespoons of clarified butter.

Preparation:

1. Wash the beans and remove the ends.
2. Boil the water in a pot. You can add a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt.
3. Add the beans to the boiling water and cook until they are al dente. Remember that mammoth beans cook faster than green beans.
4. Melt the butter in a pan. Add the par-cooked beans.
5. Sauté the beans over medium heat for a few minutes. Towards the end, add crushed garlic, salt, and coarsely ground pepper.
6. Serve the prepared mammoth beans with a fried egg and boiled potatoes.