Fabada Asturiana is a common type of Spanish bean stew that usually includes bacon.
Fabada Asturiana is a common type of Spanish bean stew from the Asturias region and features various meat products as well as beans and other ingredients. Many of these ingredients are internationally considered “Spanish classics”, but the community of Asturias, like other Spanish autonomous communities, has its own gastronomic culture. Asturias is located in the northwestern region of Spain, next to Galicia, the Spanish province in the northwestern corner, and north of the nation of Portugal.
One of the main ingredients of Fabada Asturiana are white beans or fava beans. These large beans are called fabes or fabes de la Granja in Spanish. They are part of several popular dishes of Spanish cuisine.
Some Asturian bean stew recipes call for up to four cloves of minced garlic.
Fabada Asturiana almost always includes some type of primary meat product, which is usually pork. Pork shoulder or belly can work for the dish, as can a salty cured pork called Serrano ham, which is a popular product of Spanish ham. Bacon can also be used in some versions of this dish.
In addition to the above meats, Fabada Asturiana also offers other meat products that are classic elements of Spanish cuisine. One of them is blood sausage or black pudding. This pork-based chorizo contains blood with various spices, in addition to other elements that give it texture. Spanish sausage called chorizo can also be added.
Along with beans and meat, those who prepare Fabada Asturiana often include various seasonings and flavor elements. One of the main ones is garlic, very useful in Spanish and Italian cuisine, as well as in other European cuisines. Some recipes for the dish call for up to four cloves of minced garlic for flavor.
Cooks can also add spices such as pepper, paprika or salt to Fabada Asturiana. Spanish cooks often use local varieties of paprika. Bay leaves can also be used. Another Spanish spice called saffron is also often a part of this dish.
Food historians can trace Fabada Asturiana recipes back to the 19th century, but some think the origins of this dish are older. One theory is that Asturians prepared this dish as early as the 15th century, or earlier, when Muslims ruled much of Spain. The idea is that eating this or other dishes, including pork, was a form of subversion against the invaders.