Pork and beans is a culinary dish that uses

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

and

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

s as its main ingredients. Numerous variations exist, usually with a more specific name, such as

Fabada Asturiana Fabada asturiana, often simply known as fabada, is a rich Asturian bean stew, originally from and most commonly found in the autonomous community of Principality of Asturias, but widely available throughout the whole of Spain and in Spanish rest ...

Olla podrida (, also , , ; literally "rotten pot", although ''podrida'' is probably a version of the original word ''poderida'', so it could be translated as "powerful pot") is a Spanish stew, usually made with chickpeas or beans, and assorted meats like por ...

, or American canned pork and beans.

American canned pork and beans

Although the time and place of the first appearance of American canned pork and beans is unclear, the dish was well established in the American diet by the mid-19th century. The 1832 cookbook ''The American Frugal Housewife'' lists only three ingredients for pork and beans: a quart of beans, a pound of

salt pork Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, more rarely, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger an ...

, and pepper. Commercially canned pork and beans were introduced in the United States sometime around 1880. According to the 1975 ''Better Homes and Garden Heritage Cookbook'', canned pork and beans was the first

convenience food Convenience food, also called tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily p ...

. Today, the dish is "an American canned classic, ndis recognized by American consumers generally as an article of commerce that contains very little pork." The recipe for American commercially canned pork and beans varies slightly from company to company, but generally consists of rehydrated navy beans packed in tomato sauce (usually made from concentrate and which may incorporate starch, sugar, salt, and seasoning), with very small chunks of

or rendered pork

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers spec ...

. The ingredients are cooked, packed into hermetically sealed containers, and processed by heat to assure preservation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pork and Beans Canned food Legume dishes Food combinations American pork dishes Baked beans

American canned pork and beans

See also

References