Fermented lupini beans

Has anybody fermented lupini beans? I just had some and they were pretty good.

They are prepared by soaking for several weeks. I suspect that also corresponds to a natural fermentation process.

While I grow them, I only ate them one time, because soaking for several weeks while changing the water a few times per day is a lot of commitment to a bean.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:They are prepared by soaking for several weeks. I suspect that also corresponds to a natural fermentation process.

While I grow them, I only ate them one time, because soaking for several weeks while changing the water a few times per day is a lot of commitment to a bean.

Do you know if this is the same method as employed with tarwi in and around the Andes? I haven't had either, but pickled seems to be a most popular way to serve them, and I would presume that it's some type of ferment, but it could also be a vinegar pickle for all I know.

Looks like tarwi is a lupinis bean too. So I would guess so. In our area we have wild lupines that are a foot tall, my current garden flower lupines run 18-24 inches. The lupini beans that I tried that were pickled were much larger than those varieties. I ordered some Italian lupini dried beans to see what they do in the garden.

This website says it is enough to soak and drain during 2-3 days, another website (in Portuguese) said 4 days total with several drainings a day.
The important thing seems to be that they don't have any bitter taste left.

They store in brine for some weeks, but I have never tried myself.

https://easyportugueserecipes.com/tremocos-lupini-beans/

Anita Martin wrote:This website says it is enough to soak and drain during 2-3 days, another website (in Portuguese) said 4 days total with several drainings a day.
The important thing seems to be that they don't have any bitter taste left.

They store in brine for some weeks, but I have never tried myself.

https://easyportugueserecipes.com/tremocos-lupini-beans/

Had to read that twice, since it initially didn't seem like enough salt, but I suppose it's enough for a light brine.

I did see a couple other sources that said it could take 2 weeks, rather than the 2-3 days suggested here. The instructions I've seen for tarwi suggest that the soaking takes about 48 hours in about 3 changes of water... I'm not sure how much of that is due to the size of the bean (I think the tarwi are a bit smaller than the European lupins) and how much is due to relative alkaloid content.

I also find it curious that the European method cooks the beans before leaching. I wonder if that's because they take so much longer to leach that there's a risk of them sprouting if they're left uncooked?

It looks like the bitterness is dependent on strain. I came across some literature about guarding from cross pollination.  I also saw where they are cooking the bean at some point in the leaching process and wondered the same thing if it was to keep the bean from sprouting.

Robert Ray wrote:It looks like the bitterness is dependent on strain. I came across some literature about guarding from cross pollination.  I also saw where they are cooking the bean at some point in the leaching process and wondered the same thing if it was to keep the bean from sprouting.

Oh, bitterness is 100% dependent on strain. One of the biggest goals in lupine breeding has been to eliminate the alkaloid content to create so-called "sweet lupines". Many cases of livestock poisoning are attributed to accidental crossing of bitter and sweet types.

Personally, I agree with William Whitson at Cultivariable. Eliminating alkaloid content shouldn't be the goal, since those alkaloids are a natural pest deterrent which make lupines a relatively carefree crop. Sure, it means there's a little more processing before you can eat them, but a lot less work to keep pests from eating them in the field.

Somebody posted a great write up on the history of lupine breeding, especially in Russia/USSR. I think it might have been here on a post I made about tarwi in the Latin American forum, but perhaps it was over on Facebook. I can't recall. Worth a read if the subject interests you.