[Sca-cooks] The truth about Green Beans Savory in Meridies

[Terry Decker]

The particular entry in Fuchs is that of Smilax hortensis or Welsch Bonen. 
As this text was published in Basil, "Welsch Bonen" probably takes the Swiss 
translation of "French Bean" AKA P. vulgaris.  If you want to view the wood 
cut try here, http://www.med.yale.edu/library/historical/fuchs/406-7.gif .

Leonard Fuchs's Herbal is extremely important because it contains the first 
appearance of a number of plants from the New World.  That being said, keep 
in mind that the appearance of a plant in an herbal doesn't mean it's being 
used culinarily, just that someone somewhere has a sample.  In the case of 
green beans, they were probably in limited use before Fuchs was published. 
There is a record of New World beans being given to the Pope in 1528 and an 
apochryphal tale of them coming to France with Catherine de Medici.

Bear


> Hmm...
> I am serving green beans this weekend at Harvest Day/Tournament of
> Chivarly- without cheese, though, just a side of bacon vinaigrette.
> Cheese is more expensive than meat. Bacon's been very popular in the
> Midrealm lately, to the point of evoking battle cries of "Baco
> Invictus!"
>
> For said bean, I found a reference to a woodcut in Fuchs, as discussed
> here on Clifford Wright's site.
>
> http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/topic_id/6/id/5/
> "The earliest depiction of a New World bean in Europe is thought to be
> the woodcut in the herbal published by Leonhart Fuchs in 1543. "
>
> Gwyneth