"William Jennings" wrote in message
...
Hi everybody!!

I need need some expert advice concerning the referenced subject. In
brief,
recently camping on the beach on a fishing trip
I used bottled spring water to soak and cook the beans. I cooked them
long
and slow over mesquite coals in a covered Dutch oven using this recipe:

1 1/2 lbs.. Pinto beans,cleaned and washed
1 gallon spring water
Approx. 3/4 lb. lean bacon pieces, chopped into 1 inch squares
1/2 C. plus 1 Tbsp. fresh Garlic, chopped fine
4 Tbsp. Cilantro plus 1/8 C. Cilantro, chopped fine
1 C. White onions, chopped
1 Tbsp. Cumin ( toasted and ground)
1 teaspoon (approx) Chile Petin
1/2 gallon spring water
1 1/2 Tbsp. Salt
2 C. roasted Roma tomatoes, chopped

Preparation:
I soaked the beans in the spring water overnight then drained and replaced
with fresh spring water.
The bacon was fried crisp and 1/2 C. chopped garlic, 3 Tbsp.cilantro, and
chopped onions were added
to the and cooked until the onions were transparent then I added the
beans,
cumin, and chili powder.
The beans were covered with approx. 2 inches of spring water, covered and
cooked slow about 2.5 hours
when I added the tomatoes, remaining garlic, and cilantro. This was cooked
another 30 minutes and set
about 30 minutes before we begin to eat.... they were still hot in the
Dutch
oven.

These beans were the best I've ever made, the other fellows mentioned they
were outstanding. My question,
do you think it was the spring water or maybe the mesquite coals that made
the difference?

Expert advice/opinions and pontification will be much appreaciated. I
want
to be able to consistently do this. Yes,
I make good/o.k Frijoles a la Charra often but what made them so great
this
time?

Thanks,
doc

IMHO I believe there are several factors.

1. Changing the water is always recommended.
2. Since the beans were cooked in a Dutch oven, I presume the lid was on
for all (most) of the cooking I doubt if the smoke or smoky flavor entered
that way.
3. It certainly is a great recipe.
4. Without knowing the chemical composition of the water it is very hard
to say if there was an effect from the water. Now having said that, the
attributes of New York City food some think is attributable to the NYC tap
water which BTW does taste WONDERFUL.
5. The final point is if you were "camping" then the air was likely to be
fresher and your senses, smell and taste may have recovered from an urban
environment.

Additionally, vacations often jade all of our experiences as much of the day
to day stress is removed. Unfortunately many people believe the change in
feelings come from the vacation location and not the absence of stress.

In short when you feel good food tastes great.

Dimitri