A (Pungent) History of Beans

Why Pythagoras was afraid of a field of beans?Did really an angel decent from Heaven to cook up the most tasty bean soup in a Byzantine Monastery?Do the British love beans or is it just the canned beans?What's pease pudding and what Santorini Fava gotta do with it?And have you heard of this Lancashire delicacy called "parched peas"?This is the episode you've been waiting for! A universal history of beans!Yep. A global phenomenon! Beans have been eater in many forms and guises all over the world. A fantastic resource for humans, and the environment.When we say "beans" we generally mean all pulses, all legumes, not just the tinned variety from a very well known brand...in tomato sauce...This covers lentils, chickpeas, black eyed peas, broad (fava) beans, lupins, peas and other "Old World" beans.From Mesoamerica and the "New World" we got our many varieties of white, black, red, kidney, butter, runner beans and some crazy number of 3000 different varieties of beans!Beans were important in all cultures, and a staple food, a sustenance for thousands of years.From Ancient Egypt, to Greece and Rome, and Medieval Europe via the Arab world.What's the older recipe we've got? And how is cassoulet made? Links:Academy of Cassoulet:https://www.academie-du-cassoulet.com/la-recette-du-cassoulet/ Lentils of Eglouvi in The National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece under the aegis of UNESCOhttps://www.greekgastronomyguide.gr/en/item/faki-egklouvis-lefkada/ Theophrastus the father of botany:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophrastus Giant beans from Prespes:https://www.poupadou.com/blog/en/area-prespes/ https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/jul/26/how-to-make-the-perfect-gigantes-plaki-recipe-felicity-cloake Fava from Santorini;https://www.aglaiakremezi.com/fava-and-the-history-of-the-humble-lathyrus-pea/ EnjoyThe Delicious LegacySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. If you love to time-travel through food and history why not join us at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

A Greek Gourmand, travels through time...Imagine yourself dining with Socrates, Plato, or Pythagoras! What tasty morsels of food accompanied the conversations of these most significant minds in Western philosophy?Now picture yourself as you sat for a symposium with Cicero, or Pliny the Elder or Julius Caesar. The opulent feasts of the decadent Romans!Maybe, you're following Alexander the Great during his military campaigns in Asia for ten years. Conquering the vast Persian empire, while discovering new foods. Or try and picture the richness of fruits and vegetables in the lush Hanging Gardens of Babylon.What foods did our ancestors ate?How did all begin? Who was the first to write a recipe down and why? Sauces, ingredients, ways of cooking. Timeless and continuous yet unique and so alien to us now days. Staple ingredients of the Mediterranean world -as we think now- like tomatoes, potatoes, rice, peppers, didn't exist. What did they eat? We will travel far and wide, reconstructing the diet, the feasts, the dishes of a Greek Philosopher in a symposium in Athens, or a Roman Emperor or as a rich merchant in the last night in Pompeii.....Lavish dinners, exotic spices, so-called "barbaric" traditions of beer and milk, all intertwined...Stay tuned and find out more here, in 'The Delicious Legacy' Podcast!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. If you love to time-travel through food and history why not join us at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.