It has come to this-designer beans. But don`t scoff. These are top-notch legumes. This ”new” bunch of beans carries strange monikers such as rattlesnake, Jacob`s cattle, Steuben yellow eyes, anasazi, black valentine, soldier and appaloosa.
Some are not really new: They`re ”heirloom” beans that haven`t been seen in these parts for decades-centuries, even. But they are undergoing a renaissance due to efforts of dedicated producers and merchandisers.
Other new beans are hybrids-crosses between two or more common beans. Heirlooms and hybrids offer unusual appearance, taste and texture.
More than three dozen varieties now are available in supermarkets, specialty stores and by mail. They`re mottled beans, speckled beans, beans with eyes, shiny black beans, dull white beans, pink beans, yellow beans, small beans and large beans. (A glossary of types appears on page 4.)
Philip Teverow, director of product development for Dean & DeLuca, a specialty food store and importing firm in New York, says his company began carrying the unusual varieties because of their exotic looks.
”About five years ago we came across beans that truly had a taste difference-heirloom varieties, such as Christmas limas, tongues of fire, European soldier beans, Steuben yellow eyes and scarlet runners-grown by farmers in their back yards all over this country.”
”What sold us on these unusual beans is the fact that they taste better than the standard beans.”
Drop in the bucket
Like old varieties of apples, many difficult-to-grow heirloom beans had been all but forgotten. Their harvest numbers can`t compete with the commercial crops (including navy, great Northern, lima, kidney, pinto and black) bred for high yields and resistance to disease and fungus. Production of heirlooms is not even counted in the country`s total bean harvest figures. ”Prior to the era of American agriculture,” Teverow says, ”the goal in developing a strain of beans, apples or tomatoes would be to make them taste better. Across the country farmers would trade them and frequently pay more for them because of taste. That was lost with the need to feed a fast-growing population. Increasing the yield became the goal. Unfortunately, flavor and texture have been given up along the way.”
A growing number of farmers are willing to risk the low yields in favor of high quality.
”Today we have dedicated farmers contacting us, saying they are interested in growing the unusual varieties,” Teverow says.
Part of the interest also stems from awareness on the part of a health-conscious public that beans are good for you. That and a bumper crop of regular beans this year have led experts to predict 1992 will be ”The Year of the Bean.” Two consecutive years of prescription-perfect growing seasons in North America have yielded the largest bean crop in history-more than 3 million metric tons.
Nutrition bonus
Heirloom and hybrid beans have similar nutritional properties to common beans. All varieties top nutritionists` lists of near-perfect foods because of their high fiber, complex carbohydrates and protein and their lack of fat. Bean proteins are relatively rich in essential amino acids but are missing one, methionine-hence their frequent pairing with small amounts of methionine- rich meat, dairy products or grains.
Brimming with soluble and insoluble fiber, beans can play an important part in a cholesterol-lowering diet and have been looked on as a possible guard against cancer.
One cup of cooked beans provides almost half the federal government`s Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of iron for men and one-fourth of the RDA for women.
Frieda Caplan, founder and CEO of Frieda`s Inc., a wholesaler of exotic produce in Los Angeles, speculates that ”for all the reasons people are going back to mashed potatoes and meatloaf, they also are turning to beans. They are easy to prepare-even for inexperienced cooks-and they taste good. Beans fit into everything today`s consumer is looking for-to stretch the budget and to eat more healthfully.”
Kitchen cooks and chefs, always on the lookout for new and unusual foodstuffs, are scooping up the unusual varieties of beans-despite their price-often three or more times the cost of standard beans. Dean & DeLuca sold more than 100,000 pounds in 1991-still only a small dent in total bean consumption in this country. In 1991, Americans ate slightly more than 6 pounds per person and experts predict that number will rise.
In the Chicago area, the exotic beans do a brisk business at such stores as Treasure Island (which carries the Dean & DeLuca label, among others). Robert Hanson, grocery buyer for Treasure Island, says the sale of dried beans has more than doubled in the last year, largely due to the variety now available and more attractive packaging.
Beans, bean soups and bean mixes disappear quickly from shelves at such specialty food stores as Foodstuffs in Glencoe and Evanston and Jaqua on Halsted Street. Health Works on Belmont Avenue stocks scarlet runners and soldier beans among its diverse, fast-moving bean selection.
Valerie Phipps, one of the owners of Phipps Ranch, a family-owned farm since 1969 in Pescadero, California, specializing in dried beans, herbs and specialty vegetables, says they sell about 60 varieties of beans-including many heirloom beans that have been passed down through the generations, such as the black valentine. ”Even if we have just a handful of these rare beans we grow them, harvest them and repeat the process until we have enough to sell and keep the seedstock going.”
Phipps Ranch also develops their own hybrids including the Phipps black runner and the Phipps jumbo pinto. They sell thousands of pounds of beans every year at a retail store on the farm, by mail and direct to many restaurants, including Chez Panisse in Berkeley and Highlands Inn in Carmel.
The Kennebec Bean Co., a small wholesale company in North Vassalboro, Maine, buys heirloom varieties such as Jacob`s cattle, soldier and Maine yellow eyes from local farmers.
Foreman David Frankenfield says of the company`s 22 varieties, the yellow eye and soldier beans sell best-particularly to locals.
”We have customers who will only buy Jacob`s cattle-they will not eat any other. Most are destined for baked beans and the Saturday-night bean pot.”
Colorful mix
Vivid colors and intricate markings distinguish unusual beans. A pinto, for instance, with its tiny color veins, will not retain its markings after cooking, but the deeply mottled Christmas lima and Jacob`s cattle will. The European soldier bean, a white bean with a red eye in the shape of a soldier standing at attention, likewise retains its marking after cooking, although the color fades.
Flavor standouts, according to Teverow of Dean & DeLuca, include two California-grown beans-the Christmas lima with a subtle chestnut flavor and the sweet white runner, a large bean with a sweet taste that turns yellow when cooked.
Another of his favorites is the French navy, grown in Idaho, which exhibits a hint of smokiness. From the Western states Teverow recommends tangy, subtly tomato-flavored snowcap beans and creamy, delicate flageolets
(tender, young dried kidney beans).
Texture is another reason to seek out these unusual dried bean varieties. ”Heirloom beans, when properly cooked, are buttery-smooth rather than the coarser texture of the commercial varieties,” Teverow says.
Sheryl and Mel London, authors of a forthcoming new book, ”The Versatile Grain and the Elegant Bean” (Simon and Schuster, $25.) favor the heirlooms and hybrids. ”They are beautiful and tend to arrive fresher in the markets-therefore they cook more quickly,” says Sheryl. ”Their unique flavors are very inspiring. For example, we make an upscale succotash with the Christmas limas that is quite unique because of the chestnutty flavor of the bean. It is also very attractive.”
Hybrid beans, sometimes called designer beans, are blends of varieties. Perhaps the most striking is the calypso-half white, half black with a black dot. Rattlesnake beans look like a dark, rectangular pinto; appaloosas, creamy white with a black spot, are another pinto hybrid.
Imports, too
Also becoming more readily available and widely used-particularly by chefs-are imported dried beans such as fava beans from the Azores Islands in the middle Atlantic Ocean. Adzuki beans from China and Japan appear on menus and in Asian desserts. Mediterranean garbanzo beans, with their crunchy texture and nutlike flavor, have become almost mainstream.
”Pinto beans are currently the favorite flavor in America,” says John A. McGill, administrative treasurer for the National Dry Bean Council in Saginaw, Mich. ”There`s no question about that. Navy beans, the traditional baked bean, are holding their own, but barely.
”Ethnic food markets, particularly the Hispanic sectors, have a strong heritage in bean consumption.”
Whether it`s the humble lima or the posh calypso bean, the cast of characters is sure to inspire hearty, satisfying dishes. With the many varieties to choose from, perhaps calypso cassoulet or Creole appaloosa beans and rice will be future classics.
