SC - bread experiment

[Decker, Terry D.]

In a message dated 12/19/98 4:47:35 AM Eastern Standard Time, allilyn at juno.com
writes:

<< Now, all that being so, what is the point of driving for a hour or two to
 find Fava beans just because they were the ones we know were grown? 
 There may be a moral imperative here, as to being totally period (of
 course, I'm cooking these on an electric stove and storing in a frig) but
 when the resulting bean mush is all the same, I feel that the dangers of
 serving Fava beans to people with a variety of  unknown health
 problems--ancestry, medications, etc.--are not worth the doing.
 
 Opinions welcome.
 
 Regards,
  >>

Please don't take this personally but I find there is a very great difference
in flavor between all the varieties that you mentioned especailly favas and
the other beans. Also there is circumstantial  evidence that suggests that
several other beans may have been grown in period besides favas, such as yard
long beans and black-eyed peas. 

The gist of your post, if I read it correctly, is that you feel the
similarities warrant their use. You also feel that supposed difficulty in
obtaining them  coupled with a rare allergic reaction to favas also warrant
their exclusion. These insignificant factors alone then warrant the
substitution of Phaseolus species for known Old World species. Am I correct?

If so, my position is that ease of attaining ingredients should not be a
factor. Simply use other recipes which do not call for the product, grow your
own or, most significantly, have your grocer order them for you. 

Similarities with New World products sounds like a reasonable reason. However,
this observation is based on your personal taste. I can tell the difference
between different varieties of green beans, potatoes and tomatoes among other
things. To my palette those differences are real enough to cause me to not
prepare certain dishes if the variety necessary for the dish is not available.
The flavor diffierence between favas, lentils, chickpeas and New World beans
is so glaring to a trained palatte that they are as different as licorice,
oranges, walnuts and grapes. 

In addressing the allergy angle, the reaction to favas is EXTREMELY rare and
is limited to persons descended from ancestors that come from a very narrow
Mediterregion. If we were to use this argument we would have to leave every
known food out of feasts, especially sijnce allergies to nuts, assorted
fruits, alliums, dairy products, seafood, fish and wheat are more wisespread
than fava allergies.

When we come across rare or unusual ingredients in recipes the far better
route, IMO, would be to try to obtain the ingredient or forego using the
recipe rather than compromise the truth by degrading cookery from a respected
art/science to the level of 'slopping the hogs'.

Ras
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