I came across a recipe for baked beans the other day from Nagi at "RecipeTin Eats" and thought given that tinned baked beans have all sorts of things added to them I would like to try it. According to dieticians they are very good for you. One problem, you can't buy haricot(Navy) beans any more (the beans suggested by Nagi) At least in major supermarkets.
While yes, you can use other beans, as Nagi has pointed out but they are not as good as the beans used by Heinz. (Read her discussion in the recipe)
Just another way our world is being dictated to by the profitmongers. I seems to me to be a case of "Other beans öffer more profit for us so thats all you get" or is it a case of Heinz is grumpy at people duplicating their recipe without all the other bad stuff in it?
What Are Navy Beans? Navy beans are also known as haricost, pearl haricot beans, Boston beans, white pea beans and pea beans; they are native to Australia. They got their name from being a staple in the diets of the United States Navy in the early 20th century due to their incredible nutritional value. (Google)
Its Difficult to find any Australian grown beans and I have added food grown in USA to my No No list.
Please, this is not about whether you like or don't like baked beans or whether you like or don't like Heinz,or about how you cook your beans its about how our food choices are being dominated by big business and which items will generate the most profit and which Items we can eat.
No, I just looked up Colesworth. Then did a google search. Only one wholesaler in Perth came up and some overseas companies.
I have my doubts about Asian/Indian markets. I got a squashed fly in a packet of papadamms (spelling?) one time. Yes, I'm a bit over the top regarding food. However, I did work for a company testing imports coming into the country and I can say the results were "buyer beware" Some were quite startling. Red dye on Chinese crockery imports was lead, and there was almost as much rat dropings in the dates as dates. That was a long time ago so perhaps things have changed for the better.
I was a bit taken aback, when I found out that these beans are native to Australia, and we can't get them. Where are they? Have they all gone extinct? or... the usual story, are they being sold overseas at large profits and then cheaper inferior beans imported back into Australia. This sort of thing happens more often than not these days.
And people are spending billions putting up solar panels and wind farms. They should have a look to domestic affairs and worry about pesticides in crops, single crop farms, growing crops that use huge amounts of water and deplete the rivers, poison in the atmosphere and rubbish in the rivers and oceans before they start putting up wind and solar farms. The Murray River down south is poisonous. Has been for a long time. Never go swimming with an open wound you risk getting it infected.
Clean up Australia should be No1 priority long before clean up the world.
In regard to Asian/Indian foodstuffs; I've eaten at food venders in Calcutta, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore and in the South Pacific and Mexico - Never had any repercussions.
I have had food poisoning several times in Australia and once in Baha California.
If food is prepared and cooked properly (anywhere), there tends to be no problems.
I do agree with you about the disgusting habits occurring within Australia over the last few years however.
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$10 kg hmmm Just what I was saying.
Colesworth ship from USA "Great white southern" beans for $4.75 a kg. They don't stock the native Australian beans. Reading the fine print Katoomba is an Australian based importer. Looks like they import the beans and package them here in Australia. No mention if GMO and other additives free though which is the main issue with US.
More profit to ship from overseas in preference to supplying them from local growers.
So what is the issue here? Are we, the consumers, responsible? Buying the cheaper product in preference to the local product. Are the suppliers charging too much? Does it cost the growers too much? Is it a bit of everything?
I followed the recipe as closely as I could. Nagi's advice about cooking the beans is very important. Mine were a little hard. I am going to figure out how to have these in the freezer for a quick meal. This is one of the attractions of having them in cans.
I think in the van I will have canned and at home, frozen or freshly made.
Healthier ? At least I know what is in them. Using pre prepared tomato and Worchestershire Sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar and pre prepared Chicken Stock with reduced salt. doesn't help the healthier issue much. But they worked.
Cannot think of better ingredients that would not change the flavour.
Ingredients: Can of "Hxxnz Baked Beans"
Tomato Sauce (51%) [Tomatoes (26%), Water, Sugar, Maize Thickener (1422), Salt, Food Acids (260, 330), Flavours], Navy Beans (49%).
Perhaps the Maize Thickener, Food Acids and Flavours are present in the Tomato Sauce etc anyway.
This is my first foray into using legumes and I like them because of the protein content. I think I'll go and see if I can find some other recipes. Maybe they could be a pasta substitute.
or, what about fried beans? lol.