Winner of the 2008 Jane Grigson Award, issued by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), this is the story of the bean, the staple food cultivated by humans for over 10,000 years. It takes the reader on a journey across cuisines and cultures.

Winner of the 2008 Jane Grigson Award, issued by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), this is the story of the bean, the staple food cultivated by humans for over 10,000 years. From the lentil to the soybean, every civilization on the planet has cultivated its own species of bean. The humble bean has always attracted attention - from Pythagoras' notion that the bean hosted a human soul to St. Jerome's indictment against bean-eating in convents (because they "tickle the genitals"), to current research into the deadly toxins contained in the most commonly eaten beans. Over time, the bean has been both scorned as "poor man's meat" and praised as health-giving, even patriotic. Attitudes to this most basic of foodstuffs have always revealed a great deal about a society. "Beans: A History" takes the reader on a fascinating journey across cuisines and cultures.

Preface, Acknowledgements and Note on Recipes1. Introduction2. Lentils - Fertile Crescent3. Lupines - Europe and Andes4. Favas - Europe5. Peas, Chickpeas and other Peas, Cajanus (congo pea)
6. Oddballs7. Mung
and the Vignas - India8. Black-eyed Peas - Africa, Soul Food 9. Phaseolus vulgaris - Mexico and the World 10. Limas and the lesser Phaseoli - Andes 11. Tepary beans - Native Americans12. Soy - China, Japan and the WorldBibliographyIndex