[Sca-cooks] Black-eyed peas recipes?

[Terry Decker]

Yeah.  I've got a package of them on my shelf.

What you are doing is ascribing a finer definition to common names than they 
convey.  Common names tend to be used indiscriminately and even erroneously, 
for commercial purposes.

All of the beans you mention (other than the adzuki) are variants of genus 
Phaseolus species vulgaris AKA common bean.  "Kidney bean" is a common name 
for a number of varieties which more or less resemble kidneys.  "Red bean" 
is a common name for a number of varieties of red kidney bean (as well as 
the adzuki and several other red beans or peas).  Size, taste, texture, etc. 
may vary between varieties, but they are still all kidney beans and red 
beans.

>From the description, I think the particular "red bean" you are referencing 
comes under the common names of small red bean, small red kidney bean, 
Mexican red bean, Habichuelas, and Habas Paquanos Colorados.  Cultivars 
include LeBaron, NW-63, Ul 239, Montezuma Red, USRM-20, and Red Mexican.

Bear




> Around these parts (Texas) there is a bean sold as "red bean" in grocery
> stores which is definitely not a kidney bean.  It has the same red color 
> as a
> red kidney bean, but is about the size and shape of a Navy or pea bean. 
> It
> has a creamier taste and texture when cooked than a kidney bean, though it
> holds its shape well.  I've always been told this is the "red bean" of red
> beans and rice, not the kidney bean.
>
> It's possible that it's an Azuki bean, but it doesn't look quite the same 
> as
> the Azuki bean picture on Wikipedia.
>
> Colin