Beans: A History [Hardcover]

Ken Albala (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2007

Whether refried, baked, falafelled, or complementing a nice Chianti, the humble bean has long been a part of gourmet and everyday food culture around the globe. As Ken Albala shows, though, over its history the bean has enjoyed more controversy than its current ubiquity lets on. From the bean's status as seat of the soul (at least, that's what Pythagoras thought) to seed of sin (or so said St. Jerome, who forbade nuns to eat beans because they "tickle the genitals"), Beans is a ripping tale of a truly magical fruit.

Editorial Reviews

Review

2008 Winner of the Jane Grigson Food Book Award

 

"Who ever knew that beans were so complicated and interesting. Told in fascinating detail by Ken Albala, Beans, A History, is an instructional book that reads like a novel." -- Chef Charlie Palmer

"[A] vividly entertaining history of the humble bean."-- Raymond Blanc, Saveur

"Lucky Beans, who have at last found their Homer. Who knew that the history of the Western world and parts of Asia, could be illumined through the evolution of the lowly bean in its multiple forms from fava to soy? No one is better equipped than this skilled historian to wrap history, science, legend, folklore and fakelore in an entertaining narrative that delights while it informs. This is the most digestible bean dish I've ever encountered and all I want is more."--Betty Fussell, author of The Story of Corn and I Hear America Cooking: The Cooks and Recipes of American Regional Cuisine  
"Beans is a lyrical book. It is a tale well told filled with unusual twists and turns with surprises popping up in almost every paragraph."--Andrew F. Smith, editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

"Here is the first biography of beans, presented by Ken Albala in vivid prose. Gut-buster or aphrodisiac, lowly legume or savior of civilization, the bean is more significant than we ever realized."--Darra Goldstein, the Editor in Chief, Gastronomica

From the Publisher

Publication cancelled --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Berg Publishers (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1845204301
• ISBN-13: 978-1845204303
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #798,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ken Albala is Professor of History at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he teaches courses on the Renaissance and Reformation, Food History and the History of Medicine. He is the author or editor of 14 books on food history including Eating Right in the Renaissance (University of California Press, 2002), Food in Early Modern Europe (Greenwood Press, 2003), Cooking in Europe 1250-1650 (Greenwood Press, 2005), The Banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of Late Renaissance Europe (University of Illinois Press, 2007), Beans: A History (winner of the 2008 International Society of Culinary Professionals Jane Grigson Award and the Cordon D'Or award for Food History/Literature), Pancake (Reaktion Press, 2008), and the forthcoming Three World Cuisines (AltaMira Studies in Food and Gastronomy). He is also editor of three food series for Greenwood Press with 30 volumes in print. For Greenwood he has also edited a 4-volume Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia. Albala is also coeditor of the journal Food Culture and Society. He is currently researching a history of theological controversies surrounding fasting in the Reformation Era, and has edited two collected volumes of essays, one on the Renaissance for Berg and the other on Food and Faith for Columbia University Press. A cookbook coauthored with Rosanna Nafziger for Penguin/Perigee is entitled The Lost Art of Real Cooking, the sequel of which The Lost Arts of Hearth and Home is forthcoming.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What is the author's point?, October 19, 2008

By 

Steven Mlodinow (Everett, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beans: A History (Hardcover)

I loved Kurlansky's COD and very much liked his SALT. I found Foster and Cordell's "CHILIES TO CHOCOLATE: Food the Americas gave the World" fascinating. And I love eating beans, from garbanzos to black beans to lentils.

So, I like the genre to which "BEANS: A History" belongs as well as the subject itself.

However, I found myself wondering, "What is the point the author is trying to make?" or perhaps "What is the direction of this book?".

The table of contents implies that this book is focused around a "bean by bean" approach. However, only the chapter on soybeans seems to fit that bill. None of the other chapters seem to be a coherent discussion about each bean (or group of beans). Instead, the chapters seem to meander around, seemingly without direction, excepting for the author's fixation on the historical association between the eating of beans and being poor. Honestly, it seems that well over a third of the book is dedicated to making this single point, with endless quotes to support it, often obscuring the boundaries between chapters.

What I craved in this book is closely approximated by his final chapter, which is on Soybeans. Here he starts with its known beginnings, how and why its use morphed over time and varied from place to place. He discusses (but does not fixate upon) its role in society. He gives interesting facts about its biology. At the end of the soy chapter he does, alas, wander off-topic into a confusing discussion about the pros and cons of genetically modified foods -- an interesting topic, but one that should be reviewed by someone more expert and not discussed parenthetically as it is here; similarly, he meanders briefly off into the field of medicine, where mistakes are definitely made(including confusing the findings of scientific medical studies with non-science based/unstudied proclamations), and he sometimes contradicts himself.

Finally, the recipes seem strewn in almost randomly. Sometimes they illustrate points, but other times not. Some interesting from a cooking-in-your-own kitchen standpoint, sometimes from a historical standpoint, and sometimes ????

In the end, I was rather disappointed by this tome. There are interesting nuggets to be dug out.... but I would like more from my reads than that.

Steven Mlodinow

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Be Surprised by This Book!, January 28, 2008

By 

John S. Bowman (Northampton, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beans: A History (Hardcover)

One of the pleasures of reading is to come across a book with subject matter that not only takes you by surprise--but actually defies any expectations you might have based on its title. I mean, who would expect, what would you expect from, a book simply titled: Beans - A History? Well what you get in this instance is an absolutely delightful survey of the role that beans have played in human history. Yes--those beans: baked beans, navy beans, green beans, lima beans, soy beans, fava beans. And then many other familiar foods that we don't necessarily think of as belonging to the bean family--peas, peanuts, chickpeas, lentils. In his wide-ranging and graceful cruise across the millennia and continents, the author manages to combine careful botanical facts with relaxed historical narratives. Almost every page holds some fascinating fact about the role that beans have played in the cultures of the world--some familiar, many unfamiliar. And it's by no means a compendium of curiosities: there are some serious themes and subtle insights running through the book: one such is the way that beans have come to be an indicator of socio-economic classes. It's also right up-to-date on many issues of the day--geneticaly modified food, for instance. Yes, and don't worry--Albala writes with a light touch and doesn't shy away from the inevitable association of beans with flatulence. And as a bonus, you get lots of recipes. In fact, you get your money's worth just treating it as a cookbook, with recipes from many centuries and cultures. In my opinion, Beans--A History takes its place right up there with the best of the recent books that trace a single food through history.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jane Grigson Award, October 21, 2008

By 

Kenneth Albala "Ken Albala" (Stockton, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beans: A History (Hardcover)

Beans is the winner of the 2008 International Association of Culinary Professionals Jane Grigson Award and was also a finalist for the food writing award.

My apologies for posting a review of my own book, but I saw no other way of getting this information onto amazon. I hope you enjoy it. Ken