Introduction
The basic rule is as follows:
-- P. acutifolius (Tepary bean/dinawa)
-- P. aconitifolius (Moth bean)
-- P. coccineus (Runner/scarlet bean)
-- P. lunatus (Lima/sieva/Madagascar/butter bean)
-- P. vulgaris (Haricot/kidney/cannellini/French/navy/black/pinto/snap/common/frijol/chumbinho/opoca)
-- V. angularis (Azuki/feijao)
-- V. mungo (Urd/black gram)
-- V. radiata (Mung/green gram/golden gram)
-- V. umbellata var. umbellata (Rice bean/frijol arroz)
-- V. unguiculata, formerly sinensis (Cowpea/black-eyed pea or bean)
-- V. unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis (Asparagus/yard long bean/dow gauk)
Other species include as follows:
-- Bauhinia ssp. (Tree bean)
-- Canavalia ensiformis (Jack/sword bean/chicksaw lima)
-- Cyamposis tetragonoloba (Cluster bean/guar)
-- Vicia faba (Fava/broad bean/haba)
-- Glycine max (Soya bean)
-- Lablab purpureus ssp. purpureus (Lablab/hyacinth/bonavist/field/Indian butter/Egyptian kidney/seme/louvia/frijoles caballeros)
-- Pachyrrhizus tuberosus (Yambean/jicama/potato/Mexican water chestnut/saa got)
-- Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (Winged/goa/asparagus pea)
Beans are one of the oldest food forms in the world. In America, cultivated remains were found in the Ocamp caves of Mexico, dating from 4,000 BCE. Carbon dating also revealed that over 8,000 years ago, Indians of the Ancash province of Peru cultivated the same kind of lima beans and common beans that we know today as navy beans, pinto beans, black beans, and others. The early Greeks and Romans not only ate beans but they also voted with them. A white bean meant "yes" and a coloured one meant "no". In Boston, nicknamed "Beantown", a traditional Saturday night supper began when Puritans, who did not want to cook on Sundays, would cook a large pot of beans the night before and kept them warm on the hearth throughout the next day. The earliest Bostonians cooked their beans only with a little salt. Molasses was not added until after the West Indies trade was established in the early 18th century.
In China, during the Han Dynasty -- 3rd century BCE to 124 CE -- a total of eighteen different kinds of beans were cultivated in the coastal region of Hang Chow. Later, the soybean and its derivatives became the staple of the poorer classes. Native Americans taught the colonists how to plant three crops together so that the soil would be replenished each year, but that advice was not heeded for long. A fish was also planted with the beans to act as a fertilizer. Bean seeds were planted between corn seeds so that, as the corn grew, the beans could climb the stalks for support. Broadleafed squash was then planted between the rows of corn to shade the earth and keep the soil moist during the growing period. This also prevented weeds from taking hold.
A story is told of a young Mountie (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) serving in a remote northern outpost many, many years ago, who may have been one of the first to develop the "fast food" idea. Periodically, he would cook up a big batch of beans and then pour them into a lady's nylon stocking and hang them outside to freeze. Whenever he wanted a meal, he would chop off a length of hose and heat up the beans. How he kept himself supplied with stockings though, is not recorded. A rancher, in southern Alberta, did much the same thing, only he wrapped his beans in newspapers and froze them.
Although beans have been an international staple for thousands of years, their popularity has regained new status in recent years, as a "designer" class of food noted for lowering cholesterol levels. Beans have three qualities that contribute to this: insoluble fiber, their protein composition, and starch content. In addition, beans slowly release their carbohydrates, helping to control diabetes by regulating blood sugar levels. Since beans are digested slowly, they produce a gradual rise in blood-sugar levels. As a result, the body needs less insulin to control blood sugar after eating beans than such other carbohydrate foods as bread or potatoes. The University of Kentucky took a diet developed at the University of Toronto which consisted of one rich in beans, whole-grains, vegetables, and fruit. This diet enabled patients with Type I diabetes to cut their daily intake of insulin by 38%, while those with Type II diabetes were able to reduce their insulin intakes by 98%.
Beans are actually seeds. Their thin outer covering is an excellent source of cellulose and the noncarbohydrate, lignin. Their interior is rich in carbohydrates (pectins, gums, starches, and sugars -- including the indigestible complex sugars called raffinose and stachyose which cause flatulence). Up to 25% of the bean is incomplete protein. The proteins in grains are deficient in the essential amino acids of lysine and isoleucine, but contain sufficient amounts of tryptophan, methionine, and cystine. However, the amino acids in beans are the exact opposite; and, by combining the two, a complete serving of proteins is achieved. Soybeans are the only bean considered to have complete proteins. By eating foods rich in vitamin C with a meal of beans, the body's ability to use the iron in beans is enhanced by converting the ferric acid form in beans into the ferrous form which is more easily absorbed.
As beans sprout, they convert stored starches and sugars into energy needed to produce the green sprout. As a result, sprouts have fewer carbohydrates than the bean seed, plus having up to five times more vitamin C -- although less protein, iron, vitamin A, and B vitamins. The most nutritious way to serve bean sprouts is fresh or steamed. When buying bean sprouts, pick those that have moist and tender ends -- the shorter the sprout, the more tender it will be. Sprouts sold from water-filled bowls should be refrigerated, protected from dirt and debris, and served with a utensil and not scooped out by hand. Sprouts need to be rinsed thoroughly under cold running water and served as soon after purchase as possible to avoid a minimum loss of vitamin C. Once sprouts are torn, they release enzymes that begin to destroy that nutrient. Cooking will also destroy nutrients; and, to avoid this, they should be stir-fried quickly or a cooked dish be added them just before serving.
Raw beans contain antinutrient chemicals that inhibit those enzymes that make it possible for the body to digest proteins and starches, factors that also inactivate vitamin A. Therefore, all kinds of beans should be cooked for a minimum of ten minutes, although much longer is better. Beans also contain hemagglutinens that cause red blood cells to clump together. These unpleasant features are also inactivated by cooking.
Refried beans is a misleading translation of a term familiar only in Spanish-speaking countries. The term frijoles refritos literally means "refried beans" in English. However, in Mexico, beans are not fried twice, but are cooked once, mashed, and then fried in oil. Thus refrito actually means well-cooked and not repeated as the English would assume from the prefix. In English, "re" usually means to do something again; but, in Mexico, it is used as an emphasis. For example, by adding an "re" prefix to "marcar" (to mark) making it "remarcar", the meaning changes to "highlight", but not to mark again. Other such examples include: to burn with very hot oil (as opposed to regular cooking with oil) becomes "requemar"; to divide up, but not several times, is "repartir"; and, "chiles rellenos" are stuffed peppers, not peppers stuffed a second time. Another common example is found in the stores and markets. They say, "precios rebajados", meaning "lower prices", and not prices that have been lowered several times.
