The black turtle bean is a small, shiny variety of the common bean (''
Phaseolus vulgaris
''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, ...
'') especially popular in
Latin American cuisine
Latin American cuisine is the typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to many of the countries and cultures in Latin America. Latin America is a highly diverse area of land whose nations have varying cuisines. Some items typical o ...
, though it can also be found in the
Cajun
The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
While Cajuns are usually described as ...
and
Creole cuisines of south Louisiana. Like all varieties of the common bean, it is native to
the Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
, but has been introduced around the world. It is also used in
Indian cuisine
Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, her ...
,
Tamil cuisine
Tamil cuisine is a culinary style originating in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and other countries of South Asia like Sri Lanka. Both vegetarian cuisine and non-vegetarian cuisine are popular among the Tamil people and have been sinc ...
, where it is known as ''karuppu kaaramani'' and in
Maharashtrian cuisine
Maharashtrian or Marathi cuisine is the cuisine of the Marathi people from the Indian state of Maharashtra. It has distinctive attributes, while sharing much with other Indian cuisines. Traditionally, Maharashtrians have considered their food to ...
, where it is known as ''Kala Ghevada''. It is widely used in Uttrakhand India also known as “Bhatt “ . It is rich source of iron and protein.The black turtle bean is often simply called the black bean (''frijoles negros'', ''zaragoza, judía negra, poroto negro, caraota negra,'' or ''habichuela negra'' in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
; and ''feijão preto'' in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
), although this terminology can cause confusion with at least three other types of
black beans.
The black turtle bean is the only type of turtle bean. It is called ''
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
'' because of its hard outer "shell".
Background
The black bean has a dense, meaty texture, which makes it popular in
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetariani ...
dishes, such as ''
frijoles negros
''Frijoles negros'' ( in Spanish) is a Latin American dish made with black beans, prepared in Guatemala, Cuba, Venezuela (where it is called ''caraotas negras''), Puerto Rico, Mexico, and other nations in Latin America. The black bean, a legu ...
'' and the Mexican-American black bean
burrito
A burrito (, ) is a dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine that took form in Ciudad Juárez, consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around various ingredients. The tortilla is sometimes lightly grilled or stea ...
. It is a very popular bean in various regions of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, and is used in the national dish, ''
feijoada
''Feijoada'' () is a stew of beans with beef and pork. The name ''feijoada'' comes from ''feijão'', 'bean' in Portuguese. It is widely prepared in the Portuguese-speaking world, with slight variations.
The basic ingredients of feijoada are bean ...
''. It is also a main ingredient of ''
Moros y Cristianos'' in Cuba, is a required ingredient in the typical ''
gallo pinto'' of
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
and
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...
, is a fundamental part of ''
Pabellón criollo
Pabellón criollo () is a traditional Venezuelan dish, the local version of the rice and beans combination found throughout the Caribbean. It is a plate of rice, shredded beef in stew and stewed black beans.
Variants
Common additions include ' ...
'' in
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, and is served in almost all of Latin America, as well as many Hispanic enclaves in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. In the
Dominican Republic cuisine
Dominican cuisine is made up of Spanish, indigenous Taíno, Middle Eastern and African influences.
As in Spain, the largest, most important meal of the day is lunch. Its most typical form, nicknamed ''la bandera'' ("the flag"), consists of ...
, it is also used for a variation of the ''Moros y Cristianos'' simply called ''Moro de habichuelas negras''. The black turtle bean is also popular as a soup ingredient. In Cuba, black bean soup is a traditional dish, usually served with white rice.
The bean was first widely grown in the present-day United States after the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...
(1846–1848). However, initially the variety was primarily grown as a
snap pea
The snap pea, also known as the sugar snap pea, is an edible-pod pea with rounded pods and thick pod walls, in contrast to snow pea pods, which are flat with thin walls. The name mangetout (French for "eat all") can apply to snap peas and snow pe ...
(for the edible seed pod).
It is also common to keep the boiled water of these beans (which acquires a black coloring) and consume it as a soup with other ingredients for seasoning (known as ''sopa negra'', black soup, or as ''sopa de frijoles'', bean soup), as a broth (''caldo de frijol'', bean broth) or to season or color other dishes (aforementioned ''gallo pinto'', for example).
Samples of black turtle beans were reported in 2006 to contain total
anthocyanin
Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical com ...
s in their dried seed coats of 0−2.78 mg/g.
Gallery
File:Black beans, cheese, tortilla close-up.jpg, Cooked whole black turtle beans on tortillas
File:Black bean dip.jpg, A bean dip from black beans
File:Corn and black bean salad.jpg, Salad with corn and beans
See also
*
Pinto bean
The pinto bean () is a variety of common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris''). In Spanish they are called , literally "painted bean" (compare pinto horse). It is the most popular bean by crop production in Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United Sta ...
*
Kidney bean
The kidney bean is a variety of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''). It resembles a human kidney and thus is named after such. Red kidney beans should not be confused with other red beans, such as adzuki beans.
Classification
There ar ...
References
External links
{{commons cat
The World's Healthiest Foods - Black Beans Phaseolus
Edible legumes
Vegan cuisine
Vegetarian cuisine
Crops