Lupini Beans: "Now what?"

[Paul Bacino]

So was at my Italian deli

 

I have tried to cook dried Lupini beans with no luck..    <  hard bitter and I didn't die >  I have heard they can be poisonous?

 

So I see this jar of Lupini Beans --it says ready to go 

 

So I thought I'd give them another try,  anyone use these things?

 

Paul

[gulfporter]

Have not bought them, either dry or jarred.  

 

The neighborhood bars in the Italian part of Scranton, PA, served them hot with a heavy dose of salt as bar food.  You'd 'score' the skin with your teeth, then squeeze with fingers and slip out the edible part into your mouth, discarding the outer skin.  Last year in Barcelona, they were served as a cold tapas with a drizzle of olive oil, but  were already skinned and ready to eat.  

[GlorifiedRice]

I love Cento brand Lupinis... so good

[naguere]

So was at my Italian deli

 

I have tried to cook dried Lupini beans with no luck..    <  hard bitter and I didn't die >  I have heard they can be poisonous?

 

So I see this jar of Lupini Beans --it says ready to go 

 

So I thought I'd give them another try,  anyone use these things?

 

Paul

Years ago, in an Italian Deli I bought some Lupin Beans, and had to throw them away because of their bitterness.

 

A long time later I came across the preparation of Lupin Beans (it was on this very site). It seems they should be soaked in cold water for a week, changing the water each day... (cannot answer your 'ready to go' comment). The poster had studied cookery and this was one thing that amazed her.

It would be the same with 'Horse Chestnuts, or Acorns (from an Oak Tree), the tannin is very very high.  In olden times you would fill the sack and leave in a running stream, turning the sack  each day for a week.

 

I still wonder what lupin beans would taste like.

Edited October 13, 2014 by naguere (log)

[GlorifiedRice]

They are bitter, but not horrifically so. its like those oil cured olives,

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I bought a large jar a few years ago, not knowing quite what they were.  As I recall I became ill and the remainder of the jar sat in the refrigerator until recently.

 

I understand the unwashed beans are quite toxic and even washed they should not be served to children.  The taste was OK.  Not something I would go out of my way for.  But then some people eat puffer fish.

[CatPoet]

Just remember to   pop the beans out of the skin before eating.  I have had them jarred  and most often seen them eaten like a snack.  If not cooked correctly you can get alkaloid  poisoning.