Instructions: Pour 7 cups cold water over beans, ham, and bacon in an earthenware pot. Cover and barely simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Add the sliced onion and the cabbage, turnips, and turnip tops, all chopped in fairly large pieces. Mix, but stir as little as possible in order not to bruise the beans. Salt and pepper to taste and simmer 1 1/2 hours more. Serve in large soup bowls with meat cut in bite-size pieces.

Comments: This is a peasant version of caldo as described to me by the owner of the excellent Galician restaurant Oscar in Madrid - a far-from-peasant restaurant.

In Galicia, the base of all caldos is unto an aged bacon sometimes three, four, or five years old. The smoked ham and bacon or salt pork are suggested as American substitutes and are used as substitutes in Spain outside of Galicia.

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