These beans are called barbounofassoula or hantres in Greek, which means beads. When these are fresh and green they are called fassolia barbounia (runner beans) Phaseolous Coccineus which are a hybrid of Phaseolous Vulgaris (the common bean) and when they are ripe their pods become beige and red and inside the beans are off-white with red markings. However, when cooked they loose this lovely colour.
Fassolia
Fassolada is considered to be the national dish of the Greeks because the Greeks survived those poor years eating dried legumes and vegetables. Meat was eaten rarely and only on special occasions. Even until early sixties, meat was eaten only on Sundays but after a few decades of prosperity we are back to “psorokostena” …
I really loved the last pesto I made recently with fresh wild oregano, which we picked from the mountain. You can use it not only in pasta dishes but also on grilled food or as a topping in many other dishes.
Fassolia Piaz are white beans boiled and made into a salad. There are a lot of variations of this salad but we like it with tomatoes, onion, tuna, parsley, served with olive oil and lemon juice.
Fassolada (or fassoulada, as the peasants call it), is a hearty navy beans stew, or soup if you like and is considered to be the national food of the Greeks.