Beans means Heinz!

Beans, beans are good for the heart,
The more you eat the more you… Well that’s how the kids’ song goes, and by looking at a typical London day, I agree:

Now we’ve been through some things I like, some things I don’t and others I simply can’t understand, and this infatuation with the humble bean fits in to the later two categories.

Now I’ve had my share of baked beans. We’ve all bean (pardon the pun) poor students who have eaten beans on toast every day for six months so you simply had $30 in which to go out and get hammered (how did we ever have a night out on $30 I don’t know). But now that my disposable income allows me to go out with at least $32 for a night out, I'm away from the humble bean, but many aren't.

This conversation came about in the usual theatre of debate and wise discussion – the pub. With the wind howling, the rain pouring and the heaters cranking, a conversation about comfort food transpired. Now those that know me, know I do enjoy a cold winter’s day, and those that have lived with me know my love of warm winter food. Many a people have been subjected to my beef stroganoff (Naomi for four days in a row when I was on a week’s break). So when faced with my beef stew/stroganoff/bourguignon with mash/bread or pasta as the ultimate comfort food, you can imagine my surprise when the answers around the table consisted of beans on toast with a fried egg! Beans on a jacket potato. BEANS, BEAN, BEANS!!!!

On a Friday I treat myself to a fry-up from the work cafe. Some bacon, egg, hash brown on toast (although you can’t get simply toast down there; you need to get it with melted cheese. A fully equipped kitchen and café and you can’t get toast – go figure). Sounds all nice and dandy. However, I am looked at in a funny way when I don’t get that ‘little-bundle-of-end-of-the-week-celebratory-goodness’ and cover it in Heinz number one selling stocking stuffer: Baked Beans. I think it all started with the humble English breakfast. While our version of the Brit fry up is usually bacon, eggs, tomotoes, toast and if you're feeling hungry, mushrooms, the true feast is a lot larger. Bacon, eggs, tomotoes, black pudding (animal blood cooked with blood and bits of fat that solidifies when it hardens and has a vary 'attractive' black colour), mushrooms, chips are thrown in sometimes, sausage and toast, and wait...BEANS! I have actually seen several people at work order a pizza from the shop downstairs, and then go to another counter and get them to put beans on it. I've seen chunky chips covered in beans and I've seen steak with baked beans. I'm not sure of the horrors at Mai Lai, but I think they have met their match.Many of you would have heard of the Big Mac index. The Big Mac index is an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries. It seeks to make exchange-rate theory more digestible (haha - get it).

I think there is also a KFC index. That is, the food that is served as a side, represents the tasting habits of a country. Australia has mash and gravy (potatoes obviously coming from our Irish heritage). Spain has corn. France has wine and cigarettes, while the US has an entire deep fried bovine covered in chocolate and an optional animal fat dipping sauce.

One guess what the UK has: Can't beat them, join them!