Thanksgiving, our national harvest celebration, is a good day to remember our collective food history—and even better to taste it. Teparies are native to the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and Mexico, where they were first domesticated at least 4,000 years ago. Twenty-two indigenous cultures, in addition to Mexicans and Anglos, have cultivated them. They are now a crop in regions around the world with water scarcity and high heat.
These small, variegated, hardy dried beans are a staple food for the Tohono O'odham, Akimel O'odham, and Pima Indians in Arizona and New Mexico. In a Tohono O'odham story, the trickster Coyote throws white teparis into the sky to form the Milky Way. Lakota Sioux chef Sean Sherman relates that when the Dine (Navajo) were forced from their homes in the brutal Long Walk of 1864, indigenous seed savers hid teparies in their clothing for sustenance and tradition.
Native cultivation never stopped, but the fact that teparies are now available in grocery stores (you can also order them online) is largely due to a nonprofit organization. traditional seed savers, “Land Return” Efforts Reconnecting Native Americansnorth farmers with their homelands and financial aid for climate-friendly agriculture.
Tolerant of heat, drought and salt, teparis thrive in alkaline desert soil in temperatures reaching more than 125 degrees. They thrive on seasonal monsoon rains, flowering and producing pods when other beans fail. They require one-fifth of the water needed to grow common beans (also known as pinto and kidney beans) and one-quarter of the water needed for alfalfa to feed livestock; teparis are food for humans and fodder for animals.
Teparies come in many varieties and colors, but white, brown, and black are the most common. White teparis are relatively mild and have a flavor closer to cannellini beans; the brown and black ones have a more earthy and robust flavor. They all hold their shape when you cook them.
Rich and satisfying, nutty-tasting teparies are packs of powerful nutrients. They are higher in protein than most common beans (also known as pinto or kidney beans), are a great source of calcium, niacin, iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and fiber, and have a low glycemic index, which means they are digested slowly and can help control diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
Tepariy beans belong in everyone's kitchen; They have a lot to teach us about eating well and living lightly on a warmer, drier planet. Serve them at your Thanksgiving feast; They are something to be grateful for.
Sonoran tepary dip
Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups
This simple sauce is a wonderful appetizer. Use any tepari color you like.
1 cup tepari beans
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small jalapeno or Anaheim pepper, seeded and diced
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon chili powder or more to taste
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Small yellow onion, chopped
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pine nuts to decorate
Cook the beans (one cup of dried beans makes two cups cooked). Tepariy beans take longer to cook than most dried beans. Soak them with enough water to cover 4 inches for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. Drain, rinse, and return to the pot with water to cover by 4 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until tender, 2 to 4 hours.
In a large bowl, stir together the cooked beans, garlic, pepper, lemon juice, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Using a potato masher or the back of a fork, mash the ingredients into a rough paste; add water if necessary. Add the onion and cilantro. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with the oil and pine nuts. Store leftovers in a covered container for up to three days.
Beth Dooley's latest cookbook, written with ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan, is “Chili, Clove and Cardamom: A Gastronomic Journey to the Fragrances and Flavors of the Desert.”
