Albala

Albala goes on to describe in fascinating detail the dramatic changes for both P. vulgaris and humans that occurred after Columbus encountered the New World.

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

Albala concludes his Vigna chapter with the Adzuki bean at 113: Although clearly thematically separate from the discussion in this chapter, there remains one more relative in the Ceratotropis sub-genus.

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

The stigma attached to bean eating that Albala describes may partially explain why this healthy eating option is not more readily embraced by modern Americans.

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

Albala says at 191-93 that the lima is native to the Andes.

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

Soy is “the most widely grown bean on the plant,” according to Albala at 209, though most of it is processed “into milk and curd and made into a variety of condiments bearing little resemblance to the humble bean.”

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

Albala says the only place where beans are universally held in high regard is on the Indian subcontinent.

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

In Beans: A History, Albala reports at page 9-11: The lentil was among the very first plants ever domesticated … Somewhere in the Fertile Crescent, what is today eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and Syria, some unsuspecting nomad decided to gather tiny wild lentils and plant them … The earliest charred remains of wild lentils, an indication of cooking, date from about 11000 BCE and are found at the Franchthi Cave in Greece.

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

However, Albala suggest lupines may be worth the effort to prepare.

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

Albala gave me a clear structure for understanding the relationships between all the new legumes to which I was being introduced.

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

Albala explains at 203-04 that the origins of the tepary bean, Phaseolus acutifolius, are debated since wild forms are found stretching from the Southwest through Central America.

Archive 2009-04-01 Laurie Constantino 2009