SC - Cassoulet

[Decker, Terry D.]

>Aine of Wyvernwood 10/8/97 2:28 PM
>
>>>      I know we discussed this fairly recently but, are beans period?  I
>>>      don't recall the actual decision but IIRC it seems like it was that
>>>      beans, such as white beans, were not period.  (Although I do believe
>>>      cassoulet is like nectar of the gods!)
>>>
>>>      Mercedes
>
>In the 2nd edition of Pleyn Delit, it says that fava, lentil and kidney 
>beans (?) were the only beans available in the middle ages. I knew of 
>fava and lentils but this is the first I have heard of kidney beans.  I 
>would like to know more about them.
>
>Clarissa

To quote Lorna Sass in To the Queen's Taste, "The kidney bean is a New
World vegetable native to South America.  It gained popularity quickly
during the Renaissance, and was most often served boiled and buttered as
part of a sallet.  Beans were primarily food for the poor, and in the
words of one Elizabethan playwright:  "Hunger maketh hard beanes
sweet.""

I haven't chased this one back to her sources, since I only found it two
nights ago while looking over everything I have with Elizabethan
recipes.

Bear
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