Evening star., 1904-01-23
Table and Kitchen.
The Value of Beans.

The Value of Beans.
'When you would have beans well sooden
lay them in steepe, for otherwise they will
never seethe kindly" This is the advice of
an old writer who was evidently an author
ity on bean cookery.
No product of the vegetable kingdom Is
so nutritious as the bean, holding its own
in this respect against meat. which fact, no
doubt led to their being used as far back
as the sixteenth century as substitute for
meats during Lent.
Beans are vegetables, containing a large
per cent of tissue-forming substances. They
cannot be compared with other vegetables,
as their combined properties are peculiar
to their own particular varieties. Beans
and other legumeS are standard food In
the older nations such as Egypt. India,
China and Japan. And they are also eaten
largely in Italy. France and Germany. and
consumed daily in great quantities by the
inhabitants of old Mexico and Central
America, where they are cooked in form
known as frijoles and eaten with pork and
fat, or with dried beef. called tasajo, as in
Nicaragua. In India the various members
of this class of foods are known dhal
We must not ovelook the fact that there
Is an absence of the Savory odors in dish
of simply cooked beans which are so no.
ticeabie in a well-cooked meat dish. But
there is nothing easier than to combine
meat and other substances with the beans
in a manner to produce dish nutritious
wholesome and most palatable. AS an ex-
ample of very savory well as strong
food we have the Mexican method-the
beans are boiled slowly for a long time in
soft water-a little alkaH being used II
water Is not naturally Soft-until the beans
are very tender, but not broken. They are
then simmered in a little lard or. oil with
crushed capsicum pods (chili peppeD and
favored with onions and garlic.
There is certainly no other source SO
available, SO cheap or suitable, from which
we may obtain an adequate supply of pro-
tein, as may be secured from beans and
other legumes. This class of food is es-
pecially valuable when not only the ex-
penSe for food material but the keeping
of the same must be considered. Dried
beans are not in any sense perishable, nor
do they absorb foreign elements or f1avors,
or in any way deteriorate by keeping, as
do meats, eggs, milk or like animal
products.
To the Boston method of cooking beans
is due the gradually growing popularity of
bean food in this country. There is still
room for great Improvement in the imita-
ton Boston baked BEANS" and it would
be well if those following the Boston
method would keep in mind not only the
quotation heading this article, but remem-
Der, as well, the old Egyptian saying, that
child fed on beans was well educated
meaning that only the well-nourished child
having recognized the nutritive value of
this class of food also understood that un-
less this food was put into the proper con-
dition for assimilation 1t was of no nu-
tritive value. 1t would be interesting to
know just when and how the associa ton by
the Egyptians Of beans and brains became
transmitted to the minds of Bostonians,
and adopted by them so universally. We
may laugh and joke as much as we will,
the truth must be admitted, that once you
have regaled yourself with a dish of baked
beans bearing the unmistakable patent of
the Boston bean cook you reject with pity
ing disgust all the pale, watery, underdone
attempts menace to good digestion and
disappointment to the palate.
Dried beans must be carefully and thor
oughly cooked, not only in order to be of
food value, but safe food to be partaken
of generally. The tough envelope of dried
beans. especially the larger kind, is in a
measure insoluble, being quite similar to
the bran found in unbolted cornmeal On
account of this being indigestible, it should
be rejected by those who have weak stom-
achs, as 1t is factor in creating disturb
ances and arrangements in the stomach.
1t is safer for the weak to eat this kernel
alone. unless the bean is so thoroughly
cooked that the tough envelope or husk is
made very soft. If not soluble Grinding the
bean to fine meal flour will render it
more digestible, or after cooking the beans
until soft. they may be made into puree
or soup.
In early times the nature of the dried
bean was better understood than it is to-
day: as far back as the fourteenth century
we find they were in the habit Of drying
their beans in kiln or oven. then shellng
and WinnoWing the skins away before they
were cooked.
Because leguminous foods contain a large
amount of casein-tissue- forming principle
care must be taken to avoid an excess of
this kind of food in daily diet, therefore,
no lean meats. such as beef mutton, fowl or
eggs must be served when beans are one of
the important features of the meal. For
example, baked beans. frijoles or like
dishes are sufficiently nourishing and
meats. Excess of the nitrogenous is not
only waste but injury to the system which
is overburdened to throw off what it can
not use. The headaches and biliousness
which often attack those, who imprudently
disregard this law of demand and supply
are not due to the beans, but the careless
ness or ignorance of the individual.
Ordinary acids may be used with beans,
and the custom of using a little vinegar
a tomato sauce to make them more Savory
aids their digestion.
Persons with slow and weak digestion
and those troubled with dilation of the
stomach are advised to avoid the use of
beans, even in a soup which is recommend
ed as especially wholesome and good for
those subject to uric acid diseases
From four to six ounces of well-cooked
beans, against eight of the more eXpen-
sive steak, will furnish sufficient amount of
tissue forming food under ordinary condi-
tons
The haricot, or kidney bean, Phaseolus
vulgariS-alSo called French bean-is the
best of the pulses for the laboring classes,
and is the most palatable; it ranks just
above lentilS. 1t is to be regretted that
there is not a greater consumption of this
variety of beans among the working class
es, as 1t would certainly greatly improve
their dietary; and, by supplying in a great
degree their deficiency in animal food and
furnishing the required proportion of pro-
tein, they would improve both their physi-
cal and their financial condition.
The principal reason why this class of
foods are not more generally used, except
in compulsory diet, is because too little
care and study has been given to making
them as agreeable to the taste as we'll
cooked meats. A third part fat meat
vegetables with distinct flavor, such as
tomatoes, corn, ETC.. cream, butter or some
acid fruits, meat broths and extracts, in
fact, great many of the accessories used
to make palatable meat stews when skill
fully used in combination with beans will
give results just as gratifying.