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Books > Gardening > Gardening: plants > Fruit & vegetables
This is the story of the bean, the staple food cultivated by humans
for over 10,000 years. From the lentil to the soybean, every
civilization on the planet has cultivated its own species of bean.
The humble bean has always attracted attention - from Pythagoras'
notion that the bean hosted a human soul to St. Jerome's indictment
against bean-eating in convents (because they "tickle the
genitals"), to current research into the deadly toxins contained in
the most commonly eaten beans. Over time, the bean has been both
scorned as "poor man's meat" and praised as health-giving, even
patriotic. Attitudes to this most basic of foodstuffs have always
revealed a great deal about a society. Featuring a new preface from
author Ken Albala, Beans: A History takes the reader on a
fascinating journey across cuisines and cultures.
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