Vegetables So Jewish They Are Called Jews (Green Beans and Carrots)

“¿Te gustan judías?”  “Do you like judías?”

I laughed – of course I like Jews. My interlocutor, who was from Spain, seemed confused. She was talking about green beans.

Never mind that I was more accustomed to the deeply Mexican word, ejotes, or the less common poroto and vainita. (Every Spanish-speaking country has their own word.)What I found interesting was that in Spain, and several other countries, the word for “green bean” is literally “Jews” or “green Jews.” (PDF in Spanish) Well, “green Jewish women.”

Though green beans are native to the New World, they have been associated with Jews pretty much ever since reaching the Old. Before the Inquisition and the colonization of the Americas, fava beans were called judías in Moorish Spaindue to the Jewish propensity to eat fava beans. The similar, but smaller, green beans picked up the moniker once they arrived on European shores. Though most of the plants were grown for their mature common beans, some varieties produce pods suitable for eating – the green beans we know today. These became popular by the beginning of the 17^th century across the Mediterranean – especially in Jewish communities. Many North African communities adopted green beans as a traditional food for Rosh Hashanah, because the name sounds like the Aramaic word for “plenty.” (For this reason, many other communities eat black-eyed peas.)

Many fantastic green bean dishes exist across the Jewish world – especially stewed with another New World star, the tomato. That recipe, fasolyas or fasolakes, has hundreds of variations. Jewish and non-Jewish Iranians cook lubia polo, a rich dish of rice, green beans, and often, meat. Egyptian Jewish stew lamb or beef with green beans – and sometimes, tomatoes too. Indian Jews sauté green beans with mustard and cumin. They are all delicious.

I took inspiration from three sources for this dish. One is a green bean dish perfected by my husband’s late grandmother, who was from the venerable Jewish community of Thessaloniki (Salonica). She cooked her green beans in a tomato-based stew – a different recipe, but the seasoning is inspired by her. When my father-in-law makes the dish, I usually consume four helpings. The dry stew and the addition of carrots are inspired both by a recipe from Tuscany and Italian Jewish communities and the Ethiopian fasolia, in which green beans and carrots are sauteed such that the green beans’ juices become part of the stew.

Eat this dish with bread, rice, or any carbohydrate you like.

Green Beans and Carrots

Serves 4-5 as a side

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon white wine or rice wine vinegar

1 pound/450g green beans, chopped into 1.5”/4cm pieces

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 1.5”/4cm matchsticks (roughly 1/4”/1/2cm wide)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon bouillon base (or 2 bouillon cubes)

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup water

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat, then add the onions and garlic.
2. Sauté the onions and garlic for a 4-5 minutes or until the onions are quite soft and translucent.
3. Add the vinegar and sauté for another minute.
4. Add the green beans and carrots and mix in, then sauté for 30 seconds.
5. Add the tomato paste, bouillon base, and black pepper and mix in thoroughly. Then, add the water.
6. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly. Allow the vegetables to become soft and the sauce to reduce. If the sauce is very reduced, add a splash more water.
7. Once the green beans and carrots are tender and the sauce is reduced, turn off the heat.
8. Serve hot or warm. Keep leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to five days.

Thank you to David for conducting User Acceptance Testing on this recipe!