SC - Cassoulet

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Decker, Terry D. wrote:

> 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.

Sass's source (try saying that 10x fast!) for the Tart of Beanes appears
to have been "A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye", dated c. 1560. However,
the original receipt does not specify the type of beans used. Sass
appears to have opted for kidney beans for convenience. I suppose it's
possible kidney beans were what was intended, but it's equally possible
that split favas are what the original author would have used, they
having been a common enough food item, and would have made an
instruction to peel the beans, usually a necessary step for cooking
favas, unnecessary.

Anybody got a Gerard's Herbal? I believe it is pretty closely
contemporary to the cookbook mentioned above... .

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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