Beans: A History

Description

This is the story of the bean, the staple food cultivated by humans for over 10,000 years. From the lentil to the soybean, every civilization on the planet has cultivated its own species of bean. The humble bean has always attracted attention - from Pythagoras’ notion that the bean hosted a human soul to St. Jerome’s indictment against bean-eating in convents (because they “tickle the genitals”), to current research into the deadly toxins contained in the most commonly eaten beans. Over time, the bean has been both scorned as “poor man’s meat” and praised as health-giving, even patriotic. Attitudes to this most basic of foodstuffs have always revealed a great deal about a society. Featuring a new preface from author Ken Albala, Beans: A History takes the reader on a fascinating journey across cuisines and cultures. Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Recipes Preface Preface, Acknowledgements and a Note on Recipes A Note on Recipes Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Lentils: Fertile Crescent Chapter 3 Lupines: Europe and Andes Chapter 4 Fava Beans: Europe Chapter 5 Peas, Chickpeas and Pigeon Peas Chickpeas Cajanus or pigeon peas Chapter 6 Oddballs and Villains Chapter 7 Mung and the Vignas: India Adzuki Chapter 8 Black-eyed Peas: Africa, Soul Food Chapter 9 Phaseolus vulgaris: Mexico and the World The Columbian Collision France Britain The age of industry The United States Navy beans and beans for traveling Immigration Mid-twentieth century Phaseolis Redux Chapter 10 Limas and the Lesser Phaseoli: Andes Scarlet runners Chapter 11 Tepary Beans: Native Americans Chapter 12 Soy: China, Japan and the World Soy in the West Soy today Postscript – The Future of Beans Bibliography Modern bean cookbooks Scientific reference works Primary sources Secondary sources Index