Haricot bean

“ A single haricot-bean harbours a numerous family, often as many as twenty. And not only one generation exploits it, but quite three or four in the year. So long as any edible matter remains within the skin, so long do new consumers settle down in it, until in the end the haricot becomes a loathsome sugar-plum stuffed with stercoral droppings. The skin, which the grubs refuse to eat, is a sack pierced with round holes numbering as many as the inhabitants that have left it; the contents yield to the pressure of the finger and spread into a disgusting paste of floury excreta. ”

“ Several seeds of like form were called kuamos by the Greeks; several different kinds of haricot bean (Phaseolus, Dolichos) bear the same name in Sanskrit, and faba in ancient Slav, bobu in ancient Prussian, babo in Armorican, fav, etc., may very well have been used for peas, haricot beans, etc. In our own day the phrase coffee-bean is used in the trade. It has been rightly supposed that when Pliny speaks of fabariæ islands, where beans were found in abundance, he alludes to a species of wild pea called botanically Pisum maritimum. ”

“ A much more graceful vegetable is the Phaseolus vulgaris, the kidney, or, as the idiotic French call it, the haricot bean. It is just as sensible to call a leg of Welsh mutton a pré salé, or salt meadow. No well-behaved hashed venison introduces himself to our notice unless accompanied by a dish of kidney beans. And few people in Europe besides Frenchmen and convicts eat the dried seeds of this form of bean, which is frequently sown in suburban gardens to form a fence to keep out cats. ”

“ It is a blessed vegetable, respected by the weevil. The pea, the broad bean, the vetch, and the chick-pea all have their vermin; but the haricot, lou gounflo-gus, never. What should we do, poor folk as we are, if the Courcoussoun robbed us of it?"
The fact is that the weevil despises the haricot; a very curious dislike if we consider how industriously the other vegetables of the same family are attacked. All, even the beggarly lentil, are eagerly exploited; whilst the haricot, so tempting both as to size and flavour, remains untouched. ”

“ When the beans are not so young or so small, they should be cut into thin, slanting strips, and dressed in the same way.
Haricot Beans.— (a) Soak them for 12 hours, put them in a saucepan of cold water, let it come gradually to the boil, then simmer till quite tender; drain and put them at once into a stewpan, with some fresh butter, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice, toss them well, and serve very hot.
(b) The usual way in America for cooking white haricot beans is in the old-fashioned New England dish, “pork and beans.” ”

“ The conclusion to be drawn from these facts is obvious: the young and tender haricot is not the proper diet. Unlike the Bruchus pisi, the female of the haricot-weevil refuses to trust her family to beans that are not hardened by age and desiccation; she refused to settle on my bean-patch because the food she required was not to be found there. What does she require? Evidently the mature, dry, hard haricot, which falls to earth with the sound of a small pebble. ”

“ All, down to the meagre lentil, are eagerly despoiled; and the haricot, so tempting both in size and in flavour, remains unharmed. It baffles the understanding. For what reason does the Bruchus, who passes without hesitation from the excellent to the indifferent and from the indifferent to the excellent, disdain this delicious seed? She leaves the everlasting pea for the green pea, she leaves the green pea for the broad bean and the vetch, accepting the niggardly scrap and the rich cake with equal satisfaction ”

“ In France, haricot beans form a principal part in the staple articles of food for the working-classes, and indeed for the entire population; it is much to be desired that some effectual means should be adopted, for the purpose of introducing and encouraging the use of this most excellent vegetable among the people of England as a general article of daily food, more especially in the winter. ”

“ Every edible vegetable attracts its consumers. If it had originated in the Old World the haricot would have had its licensed consumers, as have the pea, the lentil, and the broad bean. The smallest leguminous seed, if barely bigger than a pin's head, nourishes its weevil; a dwarf which patiently nibbles it and excavates a dwelling ”

“ The common bean, in all its varieties, as cultivated in Britain and on the continents of Europe and America, is the produce of Vicia Faba. The French bean, kidney bean, or haricot, is the seed of Phaseolus vulgaris; but in India several other species of this genus of plants are raised, and form no small portion of the diet of the inhabitants. Besides these there are numerous other pulses cultivated for the food both of man and domestic animals, to which the name bean is frequently given. The common bean is even more nutritious than wheat ”

“ It is not an uncommon thing for a man to consult his doctor and to tell him, “I live very simply, nothing but plain roast or boiled.”
Medical men are all agreed on one point, and that is that haricot beans rank almost first among vegetables as a nourishing article of diet. In writing on this subject, Sir Henry Thompson observes, “Let me recall, at the close of these few hints about the haricot, the fact that there is no product of the vegetable kingdom so nutritious, holding its own, in this respect, as it well can, even against the beef and mutton of the animal kingdom.” ”

“ Add one tablespoon of best currie powder, one cup of tomato pulp, a stick of cinnamon, a blade of mace, the peel of half a lemon grated, [57] salt to taste; put in your beans, and let them simmer very gently for half an hour, taking great care they do not burn. Serve with a separate dish of rice.
8. Haricot Bean Pudding.
Get one pint of dried green haricots, boil till quite soft; mash them up thoroughly with a fork. Add three ounces of butter, pepper and salt to taste, one teaspoon of chopped parsley, one teaspoon of chopped onion; mix well. Add a well-beaten egg; well butter a plain mould ”

“ There is, perhaps, no other vegetable dish so cheap and easily cooked, and, at the same time, so agreeable and nourishing. The beans are boiled, and then mixed with a little fat or salt butter, and a little milk or water and flour. From 3,840 parts of kidney-bean Einholff obtained 1,805 parts of matter analogous to starch, 351 of vegeto-animal matter, and 799 parts of mucilage.
HARICOT BEANS AND MINCED ONIONS. 1121. INGREDIENTS.—1 quart of white haricot beans, 4 middling-sized onions, 1/4 pint of good brown gravy, pepper and salt to taste, a little flour. ”

“ Flageolets.—These are haricot beans in the fresh green state, and are rarely met with in this country, though they form a standing dish abroad. They are exceedingly nice, and can be cooked in a little butter like the French cook green peas. They are often flavoured with garlic, and chopped parsley can be added to them. Those who are fond of this vegetable in the fresh state can obtain them in tins from any high-class grocer, as the leading firms in this country keep them in this form for export. ”

“ Put them on in plenty of cold water seasoned with salt and an onion, and boil them steadily for three hours. Strain the water off, put them into a vegetable dish, and pour over them some parsley butter sauce. Haricot beans are the most nutritious of all pulse foods, and are a particularly good food for people who work in the open air. They are very nice eaten alone or served with meat. They make an exceedingly delicious dish if boiled for two hours and then put into a nice brown gravy and simmered for about an hour. ”

“ Peel some small potatoes and let them stew till they are tender in this mixture. Large potatoes can be used for the purpose, only they must be cut tip into pieces. Add the juice of a lemon before serving.
Haricot Beans.—It is very much to be regretted that haricot beans are not more used in this country. There are hundreds of thousands of families who at the end of a year would be richer in purse and more healthy in body if they would consent to deviate from the beaten track and try haricot beaus, not as an accompaniment to a dish of meat, but as an article of diet in themselves. ”

“ I am aware that haricot beans, as well as lentils, as at present imported and retailed as a mere luxury to such as possess cooks who know how to dress them, might lead to the rejection of my proposal that they should, or could, be adopted as food by the people; but I see no reason why haricot beans should not be imported to this country in such quantities as would enable the importers to retail them at a somewhat similar low price as that in which they are sold at in France. In that case, they would become cheap enough to come within the reach of the poorest. ”

“ Place the beans in a stewpan with the water and butter, and boil for two hours; then add milk, salt and pepper, and stew for half an hour longer. Mince the shalot and fry for one minute, but without browning. Strain the haricot beans and chop them very fine, add the shalot and yolk of egg and liquor that was strained off, and put the mixture aside for a little while. When cool, stir in two ounces of the bread crumbs, form into little balls, roll in the white of the egg and the remainder of the bread crumbs, and fry in boiling oil. ”

“ Now, Bentham,1718 who is careful about origins, believes the species and its variety to be certainly American; he only doubts about its presence as a wild plant both in Africa and Asia. I see no indication whatever of ancient existence [Pg 345] in Asia. The plant has never been found wild, and it has no name in the modern languages of India or in Sanskrit.1719 It is not mentioned in Chinese works. Anglo-Indians call it French bean,1720 like the common haricot, which shows how modern is its cultivation. ”

“ To 4 qts. water allow 1 pint lentils, or rather less than 1 pint haricots. In addition allow 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1 onion, and 1/4 head of celery. Clean apple peelings and cores, and any fresh vegetable cuttings may also be added with advantage. For white stock, use the white haricot beans, rice, or macaroni in place of lentils or brown haricots. Soak the pulse overnight, and simmer with the vegetables for 4 hours. Any stock not used should be emptied out of the stock pot, and boiled up afresh each day. ”

“ Drain them well and cohere them with a Bretonne sauce, in the proportion of one-third pint of sauce per lb. of cooked haricot-beans. Dish in a timbale with chopped parsley.
2154—PURÉE DE HARICOTS BLANCS dite SOISSONNAISE
Rub the haricot-beans through a sieve while they are burning-hot. Add to the purée (per lb. thereof) three oz. of butter; dry it over a very fierce fire, and then add some milk to it, to bring it to its proper consistence. ”

“ Have ready a pint of haricot beans well boiled and drained; put them with the onions and gravy, mix all well together, and serve very hot. Time.—From 2 to 21⁄2 hours to boil the beans; 5 minutes to fry the onions. Average cost, 4d. per quart. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable in winter. ”

“ A large number of the varieties of both the green-podded and the wax-podded beans are used almost exclusively as snap beans, to be eaten with the pod while tender. The various strains of the Black Wax are the most popular string beans. The pole or running beans are used either green or dried, and the Limas, both tall and dwarf, are well known for their superior flavor either as shelled or dry beans. The old-fashioned Cranberry or Horticultural Lima type (a pole form of Phaseolus vulgaris) is probably the best shell bean, but the trouble of poling makes it unpopular. ”

“ Navy or Kidney Bean, extensively grown in the United States, over one hundred and fifty varieties of which are in cultivation as a garden vegetable, “string beans,” fodder and for food. The closely related “frijole” is universally grown in Mexico and Spanish American countries where it ranks next to maize as a staple food. Soy Bean, the common bean of China and Japan is grown in immense quantities. Various preparations form a part of the daily food. It is now grown in Europe and southern and southwestern United States as forage and soiling crop. ”

“ It is quite at home on heavy land, but in common with nearly all other vegetables it thrives on a deep sandy loam. Considering the productive nature of the plant and its comparatively brief occupation of the ground, the common Bean must be regarded as one of our most profitable garden crops. Both the Longpod and Windsor classes should be grown. For general work the Longpods are invaluable; they are early, thoroughly hardy, produce heavy crops, and in appearance and flavour satisfy the world at large, as may be proved by appeal to the markets. ”

“ MID-SEASON VEGETABLES BEANS
Being somewhat tender, should not be planted until the ground is warm in spring. Corn-planting time will do for the field and navy bean, but the white podded string bean and the lima bean should not go into the ground until all danger of frost is past and the ground is in growing condition. At the present advanced cost of seed—fifty-five cents a pound for the string and lima sorts with postage added by some dealers, it will not do to take any chances by being in too much of a hurry to get seed into the ground ”

“ It is also requested to keep a look-out for eggs on all the pods gathered. I myself examine with a magnifying-glass all the haricots coming from my own or from neighbouring gardens before handing them over to the housewife to be shelled. All my trouble is wasted: there is not an egg to be seen.
To these experiments in the open air I add others performed under glass. I place, in some tall, narrow bottles, fresh haricot pods hanging from their stems; some green, others mottled with crimson, and containing seeds not far from mature. Each bottle is finally given a population of weevils. ”