Dried bean soups are hearty and perfect for chilly days. My grandmother often cooked dried bean soup with quince. She generally made it without meat because in shortage economy meat was a pipe dream rather than a tangible reality, it was often in short supply. Fortunately, today we don’t need to go without meat, so this recipe calls for smoked pork.

Smoked pork makes the soup piquant by providing a unique mixture of flavours. However, you can leave it out if you follow a vegetarian diet. The combination of creamy beans and sourish quinces even without meat is delicious and so substantial that it will keep you well fed all day long.

Despite what many recipes say, I always cook meat and dried beans separately. I tried to cook them together, but it was a big failure, since meat and beans didn’t become tender at the same time. The type of dried beans may be kidney beans, navy beans, lima beans or any kind you can obtain. I commonly use pinto beans, which are creamy and taste earthy and nutty.