Our wonderful world has numerous bean cultures to celebrate. From Mexico’s refried beans to the dal stews of India to the aromatically seasoned red beans of East Africa, the bean-loving eater has numerous traditions, textures, and flavor profiles to draw from when preparing fiber-and-protein-rich, planet-healthy meals.
Amidst this leguminous medley, there isn’t much love for the bean cultures of Europe. European cookery is generally seen as meat- and fish-heavy, and as beans have grown in clout here in the U.S., the continent is rarely drawn on as a source of inspiration. In my pursuit of a reducitarian diet, I wanted to explore how beans were used by my cultural predecessors to help diversify my vegetarian repertoire with some old-world sensibilities.
First off, it is a bit weird that modern conceptualizations of European cuisine shun its many bean-heavy dishes. Peas and lentils are historically popular crops, just look at the medieval three-field system. But outside of the Mediterranean, you just don’t see much bean praise.
Part of this might be down to the fact that legumes have historically been a peasant food. Historic cookbooks were often written for the wealthy, so their popularity is sort of masked in the historical record. Additionally, its economic associations create something of a stigma. Restaurants and cooking classes for tourists aren’t going to highlight a region’s poverty meals; they tend to focus on those of the upper classes. And as countries economically developed, many shed their beans in favor of more luxurious proteins.
For us Americans, many European cuisines were filtered through immigrant that established modified traditions stateside. Most European immigrants in the 1800s and 1900s tended to earn higher incomes and could suddenly afford to eat more meat. Historians tend to describe this feature of America’s food culture as having something of a democratic character, recognizing that every class could enjoy foods that in the old world were reserved for the aristocracy. This caused many immigrants to prioritize meat in their dishes, most famously in many Italian-American dishes like lasagna and manicotti, further sidelining beans in America’s conception of European gastronomy. So, to break through this filtering, let’s explore some of these dishes.
Beans on Toast
The first Euro-beanian recipe I wanted to try is that famous denizen of British breakfast tables: beans on toast. This is traditionally made with a particular line of Heinz tinned beans that are evidently hard to find in the US, so I used a recipe from Nagi Maehashi that purports to be a faithful copycat and served them on toasted sourdough. Overall, I found the dish quite tasty; it was far less sweet than American baked beans, with the tomato coming through well. The softness of the beans alongside the crispness of the bread was heavenly. As for the total beaniness, this dish was the most bean-forward of the bunch I trialed.
Pease Porridge
Casting ourselves into the past, this peasant preparation fulfills my goal of diving into historic bean preparations from before the Columbian exchange, when common ingredients like tomato were not available. The preparation I had, from The Good Huswifes Jewell, was honestly quite sparse, with a hint of pepper and ginger carrying the flavor profile, though the butter did bring in a nice restorative heartiness to it. I think it has a place as a starter course or a post-dinner palate cleanser, at least if paired with something light.
Romanian Ciorba De Fasole
This Romanian bean soup (or stew, in my case) was excellent and made me wish I had embarked on this experiment in the depths of winter so I could fully appreciate its warming qualities. For anyone who says European food is bland, please try something like this that is brimming with paprika and dill. Apparently, this dish is often prepared for fasting days, where any meats one would normally include (pork loin, chicken) are omitted. I found this to be a common trope for European bean dishes; most of them have meat-inclusive versions alongside vegetarian variations for fasting periods.
Serbian Pasulj
This white bean soup from Serbia was a creamy, tomatoey, and paprikay delight. The whole peppercorns allowed for a delightful pop of pepper every couple of bites. I cooked it down to be more of a stew (look, I just like them better than soups), which was lovely. A splash of cream would have also been a welcome addition and would have likely looked better than the sour cream in my picture. I definitely recommend eating this with a side of cornbread for a bit of Serbian-Midwestern fusion.
For those looking to get more beans on your life, or diversify your sour of culinary inspiration, I have found through this little voyage a wealth of options hidden within European kitchens. The Balkans and Eastern Europe, in particular, are good places to start for those searching for new and interesting bean flavor profiles.
The role of meat in these traditions is complicated, and vegans and vegetarians should remain wary as they explore these cultures. Meat is often used to flavor these dishes, acting more as a spice than as the main event. Animal-derived fats, like lard or butter, are also often called for as cooking agents. Overall, it seems easy to substitute or remove these products from the affair, should that be deemed desirable. I do appreciate these aspects, though, as they are quite conducive to those of us following a reducitarian diet.
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