Baked beans is a dish consisting of beans baked (or, despite the name, usually stewed) in a sauce.
Traditional cuisines of many regions claim such recipes as typical specialities, for example:
- Jersey bean crock
- Boston baked beans
- Guernsey Bean Jar
- Cassoulet
- Feijoada
- Fassolia
- New England baked beans
- Quebec-style baked beans are often prepared with maple syrup.
- Bean-hole beans, traditionally from Northern New England and Quebec, cooked in a covered fire pit in the ground for up to two days
- British cuisine claims beans on toast as a teatime favourite, and baked beans may form part of a full English breakfast
- Beans cooked in barbecue sauce (or a similarly flavoured sauce) are a traditional side-dish in a United States barbecue.
- "Franks & beans", a recipe wherein hot dogs are cut up and cooked in the same sauce as the baked beans. Also referred to as "Beanee Weenee", the brand name under which it is sold by Van Camp's.
- Elia's Brand baked beans (as seen in Lidl)
Most commercial canned baked beans such as Heinz are made from haricot beans, also known as Boston Beans or Navy Beans, a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris, and sold in a sauce. In the United Kingdom, tomato sauce is most commonly used. A similar dish is Pork and Beans.
The popularity of baked beans may be due to the fact they are cheap to make and buy. British supermarkets may sell store brand baked beans for less than twenty pence a tinned can[1] although some premium organic brands may be as expensive as £1.50.[2] Baked beans are a classic example of a "loss leader", a product sold by supermarkets for an abnormally low price, often less than cost. This is done because some products are thought by marketeers to be widely used as benchmarks by consumers to judge how cheap a supermarket is, or simply to boost the sales of complementary products. Another example of a typical loss leader is white sliced bread. Baked beans have recently begun appearing in conjunction with other foods, such as a filler inside sausages, as a sidedish with bacon, or as a pizza topping.
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History
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 in the UK under the name "Baked Beanz", in reference to a 1960s advertisement campaign which used the slogan "Beanz Meanz Heinz". The 'strapline' for this campaign is likely to have emerged from an earlier market research report authored by Professor Gerald Goodhardt. The principal finding of that market research report was that consumers associated the Heinz brand with baked beans, and little else. Goodhardt concluded that "to most buyers, the name Heinz means Beans". This finding was subsequently adopted by Heinz' advertising agency.
Regional variations
In the United Kingdom, Heinz is the top selling brand of baked beans. There are substantial differences between the Heinz baked beans sold in the UK and the nearest equivalent US product (Heinz Premium Vegetarian Beans). The US beans contain brown sugar where the British beans do not, and the US product contains 14g of sugar per tin compared to 7g for the British version (equating to 140 vs 90 calories). The US beans have a mushier texture and are darker in colour than their UK counterpart. For several years, the UK Heinz Baked Beans have been available in the US, either in different sized cans than those sold in the UK or in a 385 gram can (the same can as the 415 gram can in the UK) with an "export" label with American English spelling and the word "baked" dropped from the title on the label. These are sold in many US specialty stores. In July 2008 Heinz announced they would be dropping the word "baked" and changing the 's' at the end of beans to a 'z' on UK packaging, thus replacing "Heinz Baked Beans" with "Heinz Beanz".
Heinz Beans were first sold in the UK in the upmarket Fortnum & Mason store in London as an exotic import at a high price. Although they are now a staple food, and arguably a downmarket one, the store continues the tradition of selling Heinz Beans among its more expensive wares.
In the United States, Bush's is the top producer of baked beans, and the company produces several flavours. Most of these products are in a very sweet sauce with little tang. By comparison, home-made baked beans are considerably tangier.
In New England baked beans usually are sweetened with maple syrup, and are traditionally cooked with salt pork in a beanpot in a brick oven for a full day. A popular and widely available brand of New England or Boston baked beans is B&M's Original Baked Beans.
In southern states along the eastern seaboard of the US, the beans become tangier usually due to the addition of yellow mustard. Ground beef also becomes common alongside bacon in these beans. They take on a flavor similar to Cowboy Beans, a similar popular dish.
In Poland, with addition of bacon these are known as Breton Beans (fasolka po bretonsku).
Many unusual dishes are made with baked beans including "cold bean sandwiches". These are slices of bread topped with beans and melted cheese.
Health
In 2002 the British Dietetic Association allowed manufacturers of canned baked beans to advertise the product as contributing to the recommended daily consumption of five-six 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.
References
- ^ Tesco Price Check - Online Shopping Price Comparison for Groceries - Tesco.com
- ^ http://www.alexander-essentials.com/nomato-organic-baked-beans.php
External links
Truth or dare gets wild during a game of King's Cup. Scotty Heaton must chug a FAMILY SIZE can of Bush's Baked Beans to fulfill is dare. Will he vomit? Watch to find out!
Author: ladrake21
Keywords: Scott Heaton beans chugging
Added: August 27, 2008
Sweet 'n' Spicy Baked Beans
Just in time for your Labor Day picnic, here's a recipe for beans that are so much better than anything you can buy in a can.
Author: ChefJimGray
Keywords: Food
Added: August 27, 2008
World Record Baked Bean Breaker
Badminton!!!
Author: TobyRose96
Keywords: Badminton James And Toby Whitton Sports Centre
Added: August 27, 2008
The Baked Bean and Vodka Beer Bong, Reading 2008
Sam jennings being a munter
Author: Aphos88
Keywords: Jennins beer bong baked beans vodka hideous reading 2008 08
Added: August 26, 2008
Poppy loves beans
Poopy can't wait to finish of the tin when we have baked beans.
Author: flossythepig
Keywords: Cat
Added: August 24, 2008