Where else to start a tale of 1001 cookbooks than the Strand in New York City? Boasting over 2.5 million books it is a mecca for bibliophiles and was a mandatory stop during a short stay in NYC. I immediately gravitated upstairs to the cookbook section. New cookbooks, out of print cookbooks, general cookbooks, cookbooks organized by cuisine… it was a massive selection. After a stint by the Mediterranean section and some serious soul searching about how much I could fit in a small carryon (!), I eventually wandered out with a new favorite: a signed copy of “Comfort” (2024) by Yotam Ottolenghi and his co-authors Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller, and Tara Wigley1
“Comfort” celebrates foods that nourish, evoke nostalgia, and allow for creation in the kitchen. But as important as the food itself is who that food is associated with, why we crave those specific recipes, and how we indulge in our comfort foods. As Ottolenghi et al. note, “Cooking – real cooking using real ingredients – offers a natural way to reconnect with the environment, with our fellow human beings, and with ourselves.” They also link this to “why so many of us have more cookbooks than we’ll even need…”. Comfort is a powerful driver of our love for such books. Why do I have a copy of “Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania” by Arthur Shwartz2? Was it the recipe for Struffoli, fried honey-dipped dough balls, that evoked my rosy-hued memories of Christmas in Napoli? Or “The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii’s Culinary Heritage” by Rachel Laudan3. Did her recipes for Ahi and Tako Poke remind me of the spicy ahi poke I often picked up at Tamura’s in Honolulu, Hawaii after a hard week of work? Thus, whether it is a specific food that brings happy memories, or a book that inspires communal sharing of nourishment, comfort plays a large part in our love of cooking and eating.
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But back to comfort food. Ottolenghi et al. use beans in several recipes in “Comfort”. I was delighted to find his recipe for Butter Beans with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes. In this recipe, Ottolenghi tosses canned butter beans with roasted tomatoes and sauteed onions, oregano, thyme, fennel, and smoked paprika.
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I was drawn to Ottolenghi et al.’s butter bean recipe as these large beans remind me of another delicious bean dish: Gigantes plaki, Greek gigante-elefantes beans stewed with tomatoes and oregano. In fact butter beans and gigante beans look very similar. Both are a pale white-yellow color and very large, approximately 1 inch long. Are they the same? Actually, no. Butter beans are large fava beans of the species Phaseolus vulgaris, whereas gigantes beans are actually a runner bean of the species Phaseolus coccineus L. Moreover, gigantes are a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) product grown specifically in Kastoria and Florina in the north of Greece7. But can butter beans and gigantes be used interchangeably? Several authors do note that you can substitute butter beans for gigantes. And gigantes would likely be delicious in Ottolenghi’s roasted cherry tomato recipe.
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