62 



CULINAEY OK KITCHEN GAEDEK 



Composition of the Grain. 



Water. Husk, Meal. 



14.0 10.5 76.6 



Composition of the Meal. 

 Starch. Leguroin. Gum, Aec 

 66.0 23 12 



37ie inorganic constituents im the pea — 

 100,000 parts of seed contain 2464,and 100,000 

 parts of the straw contain 4971 parts of inor- 

 ganic matter, consisting of- 



The per-centage of mineral ingredients taken 

 from the soil is computed to be— pod, from 2.5 

 to 3; 7.1 husk; 4.3 to 6.2 straw. 



§ 2. — THE BEAN. 



Natural history. — The garden or broad bean 

 {Vicia Paha L., Paha Tou., vulgaris Moen.) be- 

 longs to the natural order Leguminosas, subdi- 

 vision Sarcolobse, tribe Vicieae, and to the class 

 Diadelphea,and order Decandria, in the Linnsean 

 arrangement. The genus Faba contains only 

 two species — the common garden-bean and the 

 horse-bean, F. equina. The name Faba is de-' 

 rived, according to Isidorus, from phago, to eat ; 

 according to Martinius, from paiba, to feed; 

 while others will have it from haba — all of 

 which are modifications' of each other. The 

 origin, however, is evidently Greek. 



That the East, and probably Egypt, is the 

 native country of the bean, is pretty generally 

 admitted. This appears to be the most ancient 

 of aU our now cultivated esculents. The earli- 

 est notice we have of the bean is of those 

 brought by the three loyal Israelites who fol- 

 lowed King David, and presented him with 

 beans when he fled across the Jordan from his 

 rebellious son Absalom. One of the noblest 

 families of Rome, the Fabii, derived its name 

 from a circumstance connected with this plant. 

 The Athenians used sodden beans in their feasts 

 to Apollo. The Eomans had a solemn feast 

 called Fabaria, at which they offered beans in 

 honour of Carna, the wife of Janus, whose 

 palate, according to Lempriere, was gratified by 

 the addition of bacon ; hence the origin of bacon 

 and beans is of far older standing than modem 

 chawbacons suppose. Pythagoras enjoined his 

 followers to abstain from beans, professing to 

 believe that at the creation man was formed of 

 them. The Romany believed at one time that 

 the souls of such as had died resided in beans. 

 C3emens Alexandrinus, Theophrastus, and even 

 Cicero, entertained equally extravagant notions 

 of them. The Egyptian priests held it a crime 

 even to look at beans. The Flamen Dialis was 

 not permitted' to mention the name ; and Lucian 

 introduces a philosopher in hell saying, that 

 to eat beans and to eat our father's head were 

 equal crimes. A more rational use is stated by 



Philips to have been made of them by the an- 

 cients, namely, " in gathering the votes of the 

 people, and for electing the magistrates: a 

 white bean signifying absolution, and a black 

 one condemnation ; " and hence he supposes 

 the practice was derived of black-balhng obnoxi- 

 ous persons. Beans grew wild in Morocco in 

 Pliny's time ; and he says some were so tough 

 and hard that they could not be boiled tender. 

 This is confirmed by the circumstance of one of 

 our now most popular sorts, the Mazagan, hav- 

 ing been introduced to us from a place of that 

 name on the coast of Morocco. 



At what period the first beans were intro- 

 duced to Britain is not now known. It must, 

 however, have been at a very early period. 

 Some suppose they were introduced by the 

 Romans : we can hardly suppose this, as they 

 could not have been in any variety, which is tan- 

 tamount to their not having been extensively 

 grown, in Gerard's time, who says the garden- 

 bean is the same as the field one, only improved 

 by cultivation. One peculiarity in the bean is 

 worth noting : the ancient authors mention 

 only one beau, and Gerard appears only to have 

 known two ; and even at this day, they have not 

 multiplied in varieties to any extent like the pea. 



Use. — The garden-bean is much less in esti- 

 mation amongst the higher classes than the pea ; 

 and hence a much less proportionate breadth of 

 it is required in first-class gardens than in those 

 of less pretensions. It is, and always has been, 

 the vegetable of the lower and middle classes, 

 more used in England amongst them than in 

 Scotland and Ireland, and by no means at all 

 common on the Continent, even in vegetarian 

 communities. It is used in its young state, in 

 which state only it should be employed, as an 

 article of luxury : the want of attention to this 

 is one of the chief causes why it so seldom 

 appears upon tables polite. Amongst the pea- 

 santry it is used in its full grown state, as an 

 accompaniment to bacon. The white-blossomed 

 bean, if gathered while quite yovmg, makes an 

 excellent dish, particularly if served with bacon 

 or ham. The lower classes use them when full 

 grown, at which time, although nutritious for 

 strong constitutions, they are very unfit for per- 

 sons of delicate digestion — for they are, particu- 

 larly the inner skin, exceedingly indigestible. 



Columella notices them, in his day, as food 

 for the peasants only : — 



'* And herbs they mix with beans, for vulgar fare." 



An English poet somewhere says, in allusion 

 to the same, — 



" And give them beans and bacon, till they burst." 



It was a prevailing opinion among the an- 

 cients that beans were flatulent ; and Hoffman 

 and others among modern physicians assert the 

 same ; and not only that, but that the greener 

 they are, the more they are so. Dr James says 

 young beans are both a wholesome and nutri- 

 tious food ; but the now prevailing opinion is, 

 that they are a flatulent and coarse food, better 

 suited to the hard-working husbandman than 

 to those of sedentary habits. Boyle, to ascer- 

 tain the amount of air they afford — for on this 

 their flatulency depends— treated them pneu- 



