Stepping into the bean field

“There was an ancient Greek philosopher who, instead of running across a field of beans, chose to meet his death at the hands of his persecutors. This might be a little extreme, but beans have always met with a great deal of suspicion. Some accuse them of causing flatulence, others of being indigestible and too heavy. Indeed, the philosopher in question believed they stimulated sexual desires. On the other hand, they were held sacred by the ancient Egyptians; denoting death and good luck, while many Romans took their surnames from different types of beans to signify upstanding moral values. Indeed the Roman army was said to march on its lentil consumption.
Also referred to as ‘pulses’ or ‘legumes’, beans are the edible seeds of certain plants and include peas and peanuts as well as the more familiar types such as lentils, chickpeas, kidney, haricot [and] mung to name just a few. Every country has a national dish of beans and, in times of hardship and war, we turn to these to sustain ourselves. Thought to be in part responsible for the development of modern mans’ (sic) mental faculties in the hunter-gatherer period due to their high protein content, there are records of ours consumption of lentils in Iraq dating back to 9000 BC, and mention of chickpeas in the Middle East around 5400 BC...”

The article, written by Adam continues to cover the nutritional properties of beans and provide several recipes for bean-based meals, including Besan Laddu, Farinata, and Plaki. See also this month’s Vegetarian cuisine for additional recipes.