UPTOWN – Habichuelas con dulce, translated to sweet beans, is Uptown’s best kept and most delicious secret — until Good Friday that is — when several Dominican bakeries and restaurants whip up the dish to celebrate with families and friends.
Habichuelas con dulce is a combination of kidney beans, coconut and evaporated milk, sweet potatoes, cinnamon cloves, lots of sugar, raisins and cookies, according to Lolly Peguero, a local vendor.
Peguero has been selling sweet beans, along with several other Dominican treats like flan, pastelitos and sweet corn, for years off the corner of Sherman Ave. and 207th St. She said her sweet beans range from $2 to $4, depending on the size.
“I have it all,” Peguero said in Spanish, adding that she also takes customized orders.
Inwood resident Luz Martinez has been buying habichuelas con dulce from Peguero's stand for more than a year and always places her orders ahead of time for Good Friday.
“She makes the best habichuela,” Martinez said.
Angy Abreu, author and founder of the Dominican Writer’s Association, said eating sweet beans for Good Friday is a tradition from the Dominican Republic that dates back many centuries.
Dominicans, she said, mostly prepare the dish to share with friends and family during the season of Lent.
“Other [Caribbean] Islands eat different foods to celebrate Lent,” Abreu said, “and ours is the beans.”
Other locations in Washington Heights and Inwood that sell sweet beans throughout the year are the “Habichuelas Con Dulce” stand on 182nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue and Kenny Bakery on 126 Dyckman St.
The restaurant La Nueva España on 606 W. 207th St. will serve the habichuelas con dulce dish on Friday only, the restaurant manager said.
