Baked beans

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Baked beans is a dish containing beans, baked (or, despite the name, usually stewed) in a sauce. Most commercial canned baked beans are made from haricot beans, also known as navy beans - a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris - and sold in a sauce. In the United Kingdom, tomato sauce is most commonly used. A similar dish is pork and beans.

British supermarkets may sell store brand baked beans for less than thirty pence a tinned can^[1] although some premium organic brands may be as expensive as £1.50.^{[citation needed]} Baked beans are a classic example of a "loss leader", a product sold by supermarkets for an abnormally low price, often less than cost. Baked beans have recently begun appearing in conjunction with other foods, such as a filler inside sausages, as a sidedish with bacon, or as a pizza topping.

Contents 1 History 2 United Kingdom 2.1 Heinz Beanz 3 Globally 4 Health 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

The beans used in the dish are all native to North America and were introduced to Italy in 1528 and France by 1547. Tomatoes were another New World plant. Beans and tomatoes were grown together by Native Americans using the Three Sisters method of farming. According to alternative traditions, sailors brought cassoulet from the south of France, or the regional bean stew recipes from northern France and the Channel Islands.

Most probably, a number of regional bean recipes coalesced and cross-fertilised in North America and ultimately gave rise to the baked bean culinary tradition familiar today.

[edit] United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the term baked beans refers almost exclusively to canned beans in a tomato sauce. Some people regard baked beans as integral part of the modern Full English Breakfast. As the top selling brand of baked beans, historically the H. J. Heinz Company has become synonymous with them, although the growing popularity of other brands has reduced this.^[2] Heinz Beans were first sold in the UK in the upmarket Fortnum & Mason store in London as an exotic import at a high price. Although they are now a staple food, and arguably a downmarket one, the store continues the tradition of selling Heinz Beans among its more expensive wares.

[edit] Heinz Beanz

The Heinz company markets their product in the UK under the name "Heinz Beanz" (before July 2008 as "Heinz Baked Beans"), in reference to a 1960s advertisement campaign which used the slogan "Beanz Meanz Heinz". The 'strapline' for this campaign is likely to have emerged from an earlier market research report authored by Professor Gerald Goodhardt. The principal finding of that market research report was that consumers associated the Heinz brand with baked beans, and little else. This finding was subsequently adopted by Heinz's advertising agency.

Their low price and wide availability has led to baked beans becoming a staple food in the United Kingdom, especially popular among students and those on a tight budget.

[edit] Globally

In the United States, Bush's is the top producer of baked beans, and the company produces several flavours. Most of these products are in a very sweet sauce with little tang. By comparison, home-made baked beans are considerably tangier.

There are substantial differences between the Heinz baked beans sold in the UK and the nearest equivalent US product (Heinz Premium Vegetarian Beans). The US beans contain brown sugar where the British beans do not, and the US product contains 14g of sugar per tin compared to 7g for the British version (equating to 140 vs 90 calories). The US beans have a mushier texture and are darker in colour than their UK counterpart. For several years, the UK Heinz Baked Beans have been available in the US, either in different sized cans than those sold in the UK or in a 385 gram can (the same can as the 415 gram can in the UK) with an "export" label with American English spelling and the word "baked" dropped from the title on the label. These are sold in many US specialty stores.

In New England baked beans usually are sweetened with maple syrup, and are traditionally cooked with salt pork in a beanpot in a brick oven for a full day.

In southern states along the eastern seaboard of the US, the beans become tangier usually due to the addition of yellow mustard. Ground beef also becomes common alongside bacon in these beans. They take on a flavor similar to Cowboy Beans, a similar popular dish.

In Poland, with addition of bacon these are known as Breton Beans (fasolka po bretońsku).

Many unusual dishes are made with baked beans including the baked bean sandwich. These are slices of bread topped with beans and other additions, such as melted cheese.

Traditional cuisines of many regions claim such recipes as typical specialities, for example:

• Jersey bean crock
• Boston baked beans
• Pork and beans, which despite the name often contain very little pork
• Guernsey Bean Jar
• Cassoulet
• Feijoada
• Fassolia
• New England baked beans
• Quebec-style baked beans are often prepared with maple syrup.
• Bean-hole beans, traditionally from Northern New England and Quebec, cooked in a covered fire pit in the ground for up to two days
• British cuisine claims beans on toast as a teatime favourite (variations of "Beans on Toast Deluxe" can include extras as such as egg, grated cheese, marmite, tuna etc), and baked beans sometimes form part of a full English breakfast
• Beans cooked in barbecue sauce (or a similarly flavoured sauce) are a traditional side-dish in a United States barbecue.
• "Franks & beans", a recipe wherein hot dogs are cut up and cooked in the same sauce as the baked beans.
• In Mexico and Latin America baked beans are also popular: black beans (frijoles negros) and pinto beans (frijoles pintos) are the most common.
• In the Balkans, they are known as Prebranac.
• In Bulgaria baked beans are one of the national specialities, also known as Bob.

[edit] Health

In 2002 the British Dietetic Association allowed manufacturers of canned baked beans to advertise the product as contributing to the recommended daily consumption of five-six vegetables per person. This concession was criticised by heart specialists who pointed to the high levels of sugar and salt in the product. Some manufacturers produce a "healthy option" version of the product with lower levels of sugar and salt.

Baked beans are known on occasion to cause a considerable increase in flatulence following consumption.^[3][4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Bean Bible
• Vegetarian Baked Bean Casserole Recipe