sidedish: Boston Baked Beans

There isn’t a summer barbeque or family get-together I can recall that somebody didn’t bring their “famous” baked beans. They were always slightly different, some with onions, some had vinegar or ketchup-y notes, but they always disappeared. Growing up just an hour’s drive north of Boston, baked beans are ubiquitous. They are a part of a Yankee heritage where simple, straightforward cooking is favored over fussy. While the practice of serving them every Saturday night with “franks” or hot dogs might have fallen, just a whiff of a slowing cooking batch will still cause any New Englander to swoon.

 

The association between Boston (a.k.a. “Beantown”) and its most famous dish can be traced back to colonial days when rum production in the area dominated the early distilleries. Molasses, a byproduct of sugar refinement was imported in huge quantities from the Caribbean to keep up with the demand for the exotic booze. Recipes for sweet and savory beans baked in the rich, gooey syrup emerged. A whimsical but tragic twist in the story of Boston’s reliance on molasses came in the winter of 1919 when a storage container exploded sending waves of up to 40 feet of the sticky stuff into the air, flooding the streets, killing 21 and injuring 150 bystanders.

 

In the Yankee tradition, true Boston baked beans are straightforward. The benchmark can still be found after nearly 200 years at Durgin-Park, a four story institution across from Quincy Market. At Durgin’s you play by their rules. You wait at the bottom of a long creaky wooden staircase until signaled up by a veteran waitress for a seat at a long table, you pour your own water from pewter pitchers, and you eat simple, perfect food. I’ve adapted their recipe for a slow cooker mostly to avoid a 400 degree oven in this 100 degree August heat.

 

 

Durgin-Park’s Boston Baked Beans

Adapted from “The Durgin-Park Cookbook”

Serves 6 to 8

 

1 pound dried navy beans

½ pound salt pork, but into ½ strips (found near the bacon in any supermarket)

3 cups hot water

½ cup sugar

⅔ cup molasses

1 teaspoon dry mustard (such as Colman’s)

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon salt

 

Sort through the beans, removing any with dark brown spots or glaring imperfections. Place the beans in a container with a loose fitting lid and pour enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches. Soak for at least 8 hours to a maximum of 16 hours in the fridge overnight. Drain and rinse them thoroughly with fresh, cold water.

 

Scatter half the salt pork in the base of a slow cooker. Add the beans and scatter the remaining salt pork on top.

 

Add the sugar, molasses, dry mustard, salt, and pepper to the hot water and stir to combine. Pour over the beans. Cook on low for 8 hours. Dried beans are extremely varied in terms of their freshness, and therefore some adjustments may need to be made to get the best results. Periodically check the beans are still covered in liquid. If not add half cups of water as needed. After 8 hours, test for tenderness and continue to cook for another hour or so if necessary. If the beans seem too watery, remove a cup with some liquid, purée in a blender, and add back onto the pot. Serve immediately, but even better reheated after a day of resting and allowing flavors to develop.