Bean Cuisine

Since human beings do not need meat for full nutrition, and since meat is ecologically wasteful and, potentially at least, physically unhealthy, why doesn’t someone develop a cuisine based on beans and grains that would be just as tasty and appealing as our traditional meat cuisine, if not more so? Asking herself this topical and important question, Beverly White has made a thorough exploration of the possibilities of a cuisine based upon bean recipes. Having taught, lectured on, and staunchly advocated this extremely viable alternative to our traditional eating habits, she has now produced a book on the subject that marks the culmination of years of investigation and experiment. Though she does have a serious ideological point to make, her primary aim here has been to show the reader how tasty bean meals can be created at a fraction of the cost of traditional recipes.

Unlike the bean section in a typical, traditional cookbook, most of the items included are intended as main dishes, and all can be prepared quite simply with dried beans that can be easily stored away. Alongside the single recipes Beverly White has included instructions for a number of exciting, international bean feasts. Dishes range from Korean Bean Sprout Salad to a multi-flavoured Eight Bean Soup, from delicate Pinto Rarebit to the gutsy strength of Black Beans with Rum-here indeed is the world of the bean at its most appetising and inviting.