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Processing White or Wax Beans

A method for treating white or wax beans with turmeric and vinegar, involving soaking and heating.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Turmeric and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 419 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Processing White or Wax Beans

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Place beans in a processing tank.

  2. Add 1 ounce of turmeric to each barrel of beans.

  3. Heat the mixture to 145°F (63°C).

  4. Let the beans soak in this water for 12 hours.

  5. Transfer the beans to barrels and cover with 45 grains of vinegar.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Turmeric + beanstop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together419 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Turmeric + vinegartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,214 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Vinegar + beanstop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,347 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White or wax beans
Form the main body of the dish and absorb liquid during soaking.
Turmeric
Gives the beans a yellow color and an earthy flavor.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the beans a sharp, sour taste.

Swap the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turmeric, vinegar):

  1. Lentilsfits better
  2. Chickpeafits better
  3. Cashew nutfits better
  4. Beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turmeric, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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