I love to make Great Northern Bean soup. My recipe varies wildly sometimes, for variety’s sake, but there are always two constants:

• Soak them first (which is the insanely obvious thing, sorry if I sound patronizing.)

• After cooking them, put ‘em in the fridge overnight, which is where my query comes in:

I’ve found that if I eat the beans right away, they’re not so great. But if I cool them, then refrigerate them overnight, they turn in to the most beautiful buttery things I’ve ever had from something that didn’t include butter or fat.

PLEASE, someone explain to me what’s going on during that first night.

Thank you for your time, everyone! 😊