[Sca-cooks] cannellini beans

[Honour Horne-Jaruk]

Respected friends:
--- On Sat, 10/8/11, Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com> wrote:
> 
> Like all Phaseolus vulgaris, cannellini beans are New World
> and not period.
> 
> I don't think there really is a substitute, a recipe that
> calls for them would be out of period too.
> Better to look for a recipe with garbanzos, black eyed
> peas, favas or one of the other old world beans
> 
> Ranvaig

If it's the flavor that matters, the closest match is going to be _peeled_ garbanzo beans- tedious, but do-able. All the old world true beans except Favas went extinct through non-cultivation when Phaseolus vulgaris came in, so there are a fair number of period bean recipes for which such substitution is your only option. You can't use favas both because of their very strong, earthy taste and because of a nasty little biological trick we played on ourselves, called favism, where a dangerous reaction to undercooked or raw favas developed as a protection against malaria and then went way overboard. 

Yours in service to both the Societies of which I am a member-
(Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk, R.S.F.
Alizaundre de Brebeuf, C.O.L. S.C.A.- AKA Una the wisewoman, or That Pict

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