The green bean, which originated in Mexico and Peru, has progressed through history from a wild and untamed vegetable to a champion of our plates. Green beans should be one of your favorite vegetables since they are high in fiber and mineral salts, low in calories, and simple to cook. And if it isn't, our suggestion should persuade you differently. The bean, like many other plants grown in Europe today, is native to America. Before domestication, the bean appears to have been a liana, cultivated in parallel in Peru and Mexico 8,000 or 9,000 years ago. Although Christopher Columbus discovered it in Cuba on his first voyage in 1492, the plant did not officially arrive in France until 1553, when Catherine de Medici carried it in her luggage following her marriage to the future King Henry II. Previously ingested in the form of grains (dry or not), we began to eat it as we do today in the 18th century. It's worth noting that France is the biggest producer of fresh green beans, ahead of Italy and then Spain, with a yearly output of 24,000 tonnes. Women in Central and South America, where the plant originated, collected numerous species of wild beans as early as prehistoric times. Excavations in Ancash, Peru, have revealed that it was grown 7,000 or 8,000 years ago. However, it was not until the great discoveries and conquering of the New World that the first beans arrived on the European ports. They were discovered by Christopher Columbus in Cuba, Cabeca de Vaca in Florida in 1528, and Jacques Cartier in the entrance of the St. Lawrence in 1535. Pope Clement VII received the first samples of beans in 1528 and handed them to Canon Piero Valeriano. Out of curiosity, he will seed them in pots and afterwards collect the pods he deems to be of exceptional quality. They swiftly spread over northern Italy. When Catherine de Medici travels to France to marry the future Henry II, Canon Pietro advises her to include a handful of beans in her luggage since there is no better way to win a man's heart than to fill his stomach. The beans swiftly traveled through Provence, then to Languedoc, where they quickly supplanted the typical cassoulet bean. Until recently, yellow beans, also known as butter beans, were mostly consumed in North America, but green beans have long been popular in Europe. Until the turn of the twentieth century, the majority of Europeans thought the bean came from Asia, and reference books unknowingly perpetuated this myth. It wasn't until the start of the twentieth century that the origins of this vegetable, which is today grown all over the world, were fully revealed. If the Amerindians did not consume the beans in their natural condition, the Europeans rapidly found the snap. The French developed a tradition of picking beans while they were young and of extremely small diameter (extra-fine, fine, or needle) since the previous kinds soon produced threads and their husk became fibrous (called parchment). In order to avoid the field or vegetable garden becoming fibrous, it was required to return every 24 or 36 hours. The fillet bean was born as a result of this, and it is now known throughout Europe for its delicacy and delicate flavor. It's known as French bean or French filet in English-speaking nations. Breeders only created kinds of wire-free and parchment-free snap-ins to deal with delayed picking around a century ago. Because of its unique flavor, a few antique types with threads (also known as parchment) are still farmed today, but the care they demand makes it a more expensive product, greatly sought after by chefs in high-end restaurants.