Baked beans: Encyclopedia - Baked beans

Baked beans

Baked beans is a recipe consisting of beans baked (or stewed) in a sauce.

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

• Boston baked beans
• Jersey bean crock
• Guernsey bean jar
• Cassoulet
• Feijoada
• Baked beans (fèves au lard) in Quebec - see Cuisine of Quebec
• British cuisine claims beans on toast as a teatime favourite, and baked beans may form part of a Full English breakfast
• Baked beans are also part of an Irish breakfast

Most commercial canned beans sold today are haricot beans (a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris) in tomato sauce. Their popularity may be due to the fact they are cheap to make and buy. In the United Kingdom, for example, supermarkets may sell baked beans for around 7 pence a can, but some are as expensive as 2 pounds sterling.

Baked beans have also recently started appearing in other foods, such as inside sausages, with bacon, or on pizza.

Baked beans - History

The recipe for baked beans may be based on a Native American dish in which beans were cooked with bear fat and maple syrup in an earthenware pot. European settlers may have adapted this recipe, using pork fat and molasses.

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.

The Heinz company markets their product under the name "Baked Beanz", in reference to a 1960s advertisement campaign which used the slogan "Beanz Meanz Heinz".

In October 2005, Premier Foods Plc launched Branston Baked Beans. The marketing and promotion of this product was aimed squarely at challenging Heinz's dominance of the UK baked bean market. Promotional activities included a 'Great British Bean Poll' where members of the public across the country were invited to blind taste both 'the brand leader' (assumed to be Heinz) and Branston. 76% of participants picked Branston over the brand leader. Heinz was subsequently re-evaluated its own advertising strategy in the face of this aggressive activity, although in public Heinz spokespeople dismissed the challenge as a 'non-starter'.

Baked beans - Health

In 2002 the British Dietetic Association allowed manufacturers of canned baked beans to advertise the product as contributing to the recommended five daily portions of 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.

See also

• Refried beans
• Chili con carne
• Beans and chips
• Baked Bean Sandwich

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Baked beans", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki