Adafina

Hearty beef stew with beans, bright spices, eggplant, and chard

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City/Region: Spain

Time Period: 1523

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During the Spanish Inquisition, one of the main things that people scrutinized was food. Things like buying meat during Lent, eating eggplant or dried meat called çeçina de vaca, or not eating pork or eels would raise suspicion that someone was practicing Judaism. Another thing that people were on the lookout for was cooking food for Saturdays on Fridays in pots over small fires, like how this adafina would have been made.

This Jewish adafina is a thick, hearty, delicious beef stew that is unlike beef stews that I usually have. The eggplant breaks down and holds the stew together, the chickpeas still have a bit of their texture even though they’ve been cooked for a very long time, and the meat is so tender that it falls apart. The spices used aren’t typically ones I’ve had in beef stew, and the combination is so unique and wonderful.

“…showed her how to cook a stew into which they put chickpeas and fava beans; the fattest meat that could be had or udder was added to the pot, and if they were in season, eggplant was added, and they added dried coriander and caraway and cumin and pepper and onion; and the stew began to cook from vespers until the next day at noon; when they wanted to cover it the night before they threw chopped and crushed chard in; and if there was no chard, then they use radish leaves.”

— Trial Transcript of Blanca Ramirez in Toledo, Spain, 1523

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Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants, peeled and chopped into large pieces
• 1 cup (160 g) dried fava beans
• 1 cup (180 g) dried chickpeas
• 2 1/2 lbs (1 kg) beef, something fatty, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup, plus 2 teaspoons (70 ml) olive oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 quart (1 L) beef broth or water
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground caraway
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• A large handful of chard

Instructions:

1. Prepare the eggplant by tossing it with a lot of salt (a couple of handfuls) in a bowl and letting it sit for several hours.
2. In a large pot, cover the chickpeas and fava beans with water. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Drain the chickpeas and fava beans and set them aside.
3. In the same pot, heat the 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the onions and a little of the salt. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the onion starts to brown. Remove the onions and set aside.
4. In the same pot, heat the rest of the olive oil and brown the beef, seasoning it with the rest of the salt.
5. Once the beef has browned, add the onions back in along with the beef broth. Bring it to a simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour.
6. Pour out the purple liquid that has come out of the eggplant and rinse the eggplant well. Add the eggplant, chickpeas, fava beans, and all of the spices to the pot. Return it to a simmer. Cover and cook for another hour.
7. Chop the chard and pound it flat. Add it to the pot. Taste to see if the adafina needs any more salt or other spices.
8. Cook in the oven at 200°F (95°C) or in a slow cooker for 6 hours, or overnight.
9. Serve it forth cold or hot.

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