Macedonian Baked Beans: Tavče Gravče

I'd like to say my Macedonian is a little rusty, but I don't speak Macedonian, so that kind of shoots that in the rear end. Macedonian is a Slavic language of the South Slavic branch, and its closest relative is Bulgarian, with Serbo-Croatian also being closely related. Anyway, "Tavče Gravče" seems to be pronounced as if, "tav-cheh grav-cheh/tav-chay grav-chay." A "tava" is a type of skillet, and "grav" means "beans." The history of Macedonia is complicated, and it is probably best to say that Macedonia is more of an overall region in the Balkans, with sections forming parts of Greece, Bulgaria and the independent country of North Macedonia.* There is contentiousness about the name "North Macedonia" among people living there, and that name, actually the "Republic of North Macedonia," only became official in early 2019. Previously, the area had been part of Yugoslavia, as "Macedonia," until that country's breakup in 1991. Yugoslavia had been formed in the aftermath of World War One. North Macedonia has a population of about 2.1 million and its capital city is Skopje.   

 

Considered by many to be the national dish of North Macedonia, this bean dish is often meatless, but certainly not always, as some use pork chops or pork ribs to prepare it, and some also use lamb. Serve as a main dish with feta topped salad and crusty rustic bread or rolls. In Serbia the dish is called “prebranac.” I must have read 25 recipes for this dish, and with the exception of some using meat, they were all pretty close in the ingredients, except for the natural "this one used more of this, and that one used more of that." I've made this dish a couple of times, and the first time I did what most of the recipes I'd read had called for, and that was the use of a good deal of the seasoned water when preparing the actual dish, but I found it to be TOO MUCH WATER, and it made the beans "soupy," so I cooked the dish a little longer without the lid, which helped cook off some of the liquid. The next time I made the dish, I cut down on the water, and I liked that result. So the only "difficult" thing about this dish is getting the right amount of water, so that the beans are neither too dry, nor too soupy. It's best to add too little water at first, as you can always add more water to the beans while they cook if they are getting too dry. 

 

Ingredients (multiple servings):

 

To cook the beans:

1 pound dried white cannellini beans or 3 cups canned (rinsed)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 large onion, peeled and quartered

2 to 3 whole dried or fresh hot chilies, if using fresh, cut a slit in the chilies

10 black peppercorns/slightly crushed to release their flavor**

2 tablespoons olive oil

For the dish:

2 cups chopped white onion (if you only have red onion, use it!)

6 cloves garlic, chopped

2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces

1 green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil  (for the dish)

1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil for the skillet or baking dish

3 tablespoons sweet paprika 

2 bay leaves

3 tablespoons crushed dried mint leaves

2 teaspoons salt

tomato slices, for the top of the dish

1/2 of a red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch x 1 inch strips, for top of the dish

 

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda stirred in. The next day drain the beans and add fresh water in a cooking pot and put over high heat. Add the quartered onion, whole dried chilies and 2 tablespoons oil. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a good steady simmer, not so much of a rolling boil. Stir occasionally and skim off the foam that forms on the surface. Cook until the beans are almost tender (not too soft, as they are going to cook more). Drain the beans, remove the big pieces of onion (if you don't get it all, don't worry about it), but reserve the liquid, then stir the salt into the beans  For the dish: add the 1/2 cup oil to a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onion and saute for a few minutes, until it begins to lightly brown. Add the garlic and saute a further 2 minutes, lightly stirring. Add the red bell peppers (cut into bite size pieces) and the green bell pepper, also cut into bite size pieces. Cook until the peppers begin to soften (everything will cook further shortly). Sprinkle the sweet paprika over the onion/garlic/peppers mixture and stir well to coat everything. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons oil to the bottom of the baking dish (or pan) you are using. Add one third of the beans to the dish, then add half of the onion/pepper mixture to the top of those beans (spread it out as evenly as possible). Now add another one third of the beans on top of that and then add the remaining onion/pepper mixture to the top of that. Add the remaining one third of the beans, the bay leaves and the dried mint leaves and carefully pour enough of the reserved cooking liquid into the dish to come even with the beans (the second time I made this dish, I used 1 3/4 cups, but you can always add more if the beans are getting too dry during cooking). Top the beans with the remaining 1/2 uncooked red bell pepper, cut into strips, and a few tomato slices (see photos, below). Cover with foil or a lid and bake at 250 F for 3 to 4 hours, then remove the cover/lid and increase the heat to 400 F for 20 to 30 minutes to give the top a bit of a crust. Serve with crusty bread or rolls and a salad, if you'd like, or serve as a side dish for a more elaborate dinner. "IF" you have some fresh mint, you can also sprinkle some chopped fresh mint to the top of the dish.

 

* North Macedonia came from the former Yugoslavia, and a large majority of the population is of Christian religious background, especially Eastern Orthodox, but there is a substantial Muslim population too, a result of the Turkish involvement in the Balkans for centuries. 

 

** I usually put them onto a napkin, fold it over, and then run over them with a rolling pin or give them a couple of light whacks with my kitchen mallet. YEOW! Make sure you keep your fingers out of the way!

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Sodium (Soda)-"Sodium" was coined in 1807/08 by Humphry (not a misspelling) Davy, an English chemist from Cornwall, which is the southwestern tip of England.^  "Sodium" was based upon the existing word "soda," a word with a shaky history. One theory is that it goes back to transliterated Arabic "suda," meaning "splitting headache," which was used as a base for the Latin noun "sodanum," meaning "headache remedy," but it also was used as a another name for "glasswort," a plant the ashes of which produced soda ash, which then were used to help make glass, but it was also used for headache medication. The word seems to have been shortened to "soda" in Latin, or perhaps first in Italian (and then picked up by Latin), and English borrowed the word circa 1500 (some sources say mid 1500s).   

 

^ Cornwall's basic population of more than a half million is of Celtic heritage. Likewise, the Cornish language is Celtic. In modern times, fluent Cornish speakers are extremely rare, as English is now spoken as the first language in Cornwall, although, from what I understand, some people in Cornwall know a few words or phrases in Cornish. When the Germanic tribes, generally known as the Anglo-Saxons, invaded Briton, these Germanic elements did not pursue the Celtic population with any major forces into Cornwall nor Wales; thus, these areas remain Celtic in basic heritage.