Leather britches — green beans dried whole on a string, hung from the ceiling or porch rafters, and stored for winter cooking — are the Appalachian preservation technique that most directly connects the mountain kitchen to the pre-refrigeration world. The name comes from the texture: the dried beans resemble tiny leather leggings. The technique is simple (string the beans on a thread using a needle, hang them in a warm, dry, well-ventilated place for 2-3 weeks until they're dry, brittle, and shrunken to a fraction of their fresh size) but the result — when the dried beans are rehydrated and slow-cooked with smoked pork for hours — is a deeply concentrated, smoky, intensely green-bean-flavoured dish that fresh green beans can't match. The drying concentrates the flavour the way sun-drying concentrates a tomato.
Green beans (preferably mature, full-sized beans — not the slender haricots verts of French cooking but the substantial, slightly tough green beans of a garden in full production) strung on a heavy thread by piercing each bean with a darning needle, hung in long garlands from ceiling hooks, porch rafters, or drying racks until completely dry (2-3 weeks in warm, dry air). The dried beans are pale, shrunken, and brittle. To cook: soak in water overnight, then simmer with a smoked ham hock or salt pork for 2-3 hours until tender. The rehydrated beans have a concentrated, almost mushroom-like depth of flavour and a pleasantly chewy texture.
Alongside soup beans, cornbread, and fried potatoes — the full Appalachian plate. The leather britches provide the vegetable component, and their smoky, concentrated flavour from the pork-braised rehydration complements the bean pot.
1) The beans must dry completely — any residual moisture causes mould. The drying location must be warm, dry, and well-ventilated. A covered porch in late summer is the traditional location. 2) String them with space between each bean — air must circulate around every bean for even drying. 3) Rehydrate overnight in cold water before cooking. The beans swell to roughly twice their dried size. 4) Cook long and slow with smoked pork — 2-3 hours at a gentle simmer. The dried beans need more cooking time than fresh beans, and the pork provides the flavour that elevates the rehydrated beans from interesting to extraordinary.
Leather britches were the mountain gardener's insurance policy — green beans dried in September fed the family in February. The technique requires no equipment (no canner, no freezer, no electricity), no purchased materials (a needle and thread), and no energy beyond the summer air. The Foxfire books document the specific technique in detail, including the best bean varieties (greasy beans, October beans, half-runner beans — all Appalachian heirloom varieties), the best drying conditions, and the specific recipes that mountain families used. Modern dehydrators can dry green beans in 8-12 hours rather than 2-3 weeks. The result is functionally identical though the romance of the string hanging from the porch rafter is lost.
Not drying thoroughly — partially dried beans will mould in storage. Not soaking before cooking — unsoaked leather britches remain tough and chewy even after extended cooking. Expecting them to taste like fresh green beans — they don't. They taste like a concentrated, slightly smoky version of green beans with a chewy, almost meaty texture. This is a feature, not a flaw.
Ronni Lundy — Victuals; The Foxfire Book; Mark Sohn — Appalachian Home Cooking