Baked beans
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Baked beans is a recipe consisting of beans in baked format (sometimes stewed) in a sauce.
Traditional cuisines of many regions claim such recipes as typical specialities, for example:
- Boston baked beans
- Jersey bean crock
- Guernsey bean jar
- Cassoulet
- Feijoada
- Baked beans (fèves au lard) in Quebec - see Cuisine of Quebec
- British cuisine claims beans on toast as a teatime favourite, and baked beans may form part of a Full English breakfast
- Baked beans are also part of an Irish breakfast
The popularity of baked beans may be due to the fact they are cheap to make and buy. In the United Kingdom, for example, supermarkets may sell store brand baked beans for less than 10p a can, but some premium organic brands may be as expensive as £1.50[link]. Baked beans have also recently started appearing with other foods, such as inside sausages, with bacon, or on pizza.
History
The recipe for baked beans may be based on a Native American dish in which beans were cooked with bear fat and maple syrup in an earthenware pot. European settlers may have adapted this recipe, using pork fat and molasses.
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".
In October 2005, Premier Foods Plc launched Branston Baked Beans. The marketing and promotion of this product was aimed squarely at challenging Heinz's dominance of the UK baked bean market. Promotional activities included a 'Great British Bean Poll' where members of the public across the country were invited to blind taste both 'the brand leader' (assumed to be Heinz) and Branston. 76% of participants picked Branston over the brand leader. Heinz was subsequently obliged to re-evaluate its advertising strategy in the face of this aggressive activity, although in public Heinz spokespeople dismissed the challenge as a 'non-starter'.
Health
In 2002 the British Dietetic Association allowed manufacturers of canned baked beans to advertise the product as contributing to the recommended five daily allowance of 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.
Beans Wars
In the mid to late nineties in the United Kingdom a 'war' broke out amongst the leading supermarket retailers, in which the price of store branded beans were reduced so much that they were giving customers a penny per tin of beans to take them away; however they were limited to 3 tins per customer. This is directly responsible for the low prices still available today. The prices meant beans became a staple diet for students. The reason for the price reduction was not only to get the customers to take the Baked Beans but also to encourage the consumption of the products that would accompany it, such as bread, margarine, butter, and cheese, which have higher profit margins.
See also
External links
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