Brown beans

When I went back to Sweden to see my family at Christmas, my sister asked if there was anything in particular I would like to eat. Two dishes immediately came to mind:
1. Cured bellypork, sliced and fried with onion sauce
2. Brown beans with the same bellypork.

I got my wish and we had it twice while I was there. Both these dishes are real traditional meals, in the same vein as pea and ham soup (we do the yellow slit pea soup too).

I can't remember anyone ever making it from scratch - we'd buy it in plastic sausage shaped packs. My dad didn't like it, so we never got the brown beans much at home, but I always enjoyed them at school.

So, I have looked into this, and it turns out what we call 'brown beans' are called common bean here... latin name is Phaseolus_vulgaris, but I'm guessing there's a lot of varieties within that latin name.

Have you ever seen these? Tried to grow them?


They are used to make this, with the help of sugar, vinegar and starch:


Well, my family sent me a box for my birthday! I'm so chuffed! I will use some to try and create that traditional dish... and I will definitely grow some! They grow in Sweden, which has a shorter growing season than we do, so I think that's a good sign, right?

I'd love to hear if any of you have seen, or grown them before!