ANST --..Historical references to beans...

[Decker, Terry D.]

Thanks for the references.

> > To my knowledge, there is no record of these having been consumed in
> >Europe within the SCA period.
> 
> Herando Cortes is guilty of bringing "green" beans to europe. Date of
> Cortes is 1485-1547
> 
To be precise, I know of no use of unshelled New World beans in period
(which is what the menu that kicked this off suggested).

Introduction and cultivation does not equate to culinary use.  Tomatoes were
brought back to the Old World early on and known to be in Italy in 1534 and
in England by 1596, but they were used as ornamentals rather than food
plants.  Sweet potatoes were in common use early on, but the white potato
was generally ignored.  There is evidence that the white was imported into
Spain in 1573 as some form of emergency food and there is a German recipe
from the very late 16th Century for a potato dish, but as a general food
stuff white potatos didn't take off until the 18th Century.


> Now the beans which immediately were called "fagioli" then a century
> later (1653) recieve the name of haricot beans. Pope Clement VII 
> Clement VII, Pope c.1475-1534, pope (1523-34), recieves several and 
> gives some to Canon Piero Valeriano who culivates them in Italy, as well
> as passing on some beans to Catherine de' Merdici in 1533 who brings
> them to France.
> 
To my knowledge, this is apocryphal.  Catherine was 14 in 1533, her family
was in dire straits financially having been on the wrong side of a bad civil
war, and her Uncle, Pope Clement, used her to cement a political alliance
with the French.  Her retinue belonged to the Pope and all those wonderous
Italian cooks went back to Italy with him.  She was a very small player in
French history until 1560, when she became Regent for her son.  She spent
the next 29 years making up for lost time, changing France's culinary tastes
in the process.  Unless there is primary evidence that she did receive
haricots from Canon Piero Valeriano, I would consider the story
questionable.  

> Main Entry: har·i·cot
> Pronunciation: '(h)ar-i-"kO
> Function: noun
> Etymology: French
> Date: 1653
> : the ripe seed or the unripe pod of any of several beans (genus
> Phaseolus and especially P. vulgaris) 
> 
> 
Yes, and how were they served?  The best evidence I've seen is a late 16th
Century painting called "The Bean Eater," shows a peasant eating a bowl of
shelled beans.  The recipes I've seen would not work well with unshelled
beans.

> > The later is the seed pod of Vicia faba, the fava or broad bean.  The
> edible seed looks a little like a white lima bean.  This is the bean that
> would be appropriate for a period feast.
> 
> Yepper, on the bean, BUT, Now, the ten dollar question: at what stage of
> growth was the bean pod also used in medieval cookery preparation and
> the color of the pod?    
> *grin*....
> 
> rayah
> 
The dried pod is green around the edges and brown on the sides.  I haven't
seen a fresh pod or the growing plant.

To my knowledge, the pod is not used in medieval cooking, at least, I
haven't seen primary source recipe or description to that effect.  If you
have one, I would be interested in the source.

One of the reasons for not using the pod (in fact for not serving favas at a
feast) is that a number of people, usually of Southern European extraction,
display an allergic reaction to the fava.  This is commonly very mild , but
there is a small percentage who have an anaphylactic reaction.  Some
authorities believe Pythagoras died from an anaphylactic reaction to fava
beans after avoiding arrest by hiding in a bean field.

At any rate, I would not serve what we in the U.S. call "green beans" at an
"authentic" Medieval feast.  They would be Renaissance at best.

Bear
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