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Pur&E of Red Beans

A creamy puree of red beans, ham, carrot, and onion.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Beans and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,443 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Pur&E of Red Beans

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beans

  1. Wash and soak the beans in lukewarm water overnight.

  2. In the morning, drain the beans and cover them with fresh cold water.

  3. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 hour.

  4. Drain the beans again and return them to the pot with just enough boiling water to cover them.

Cook and puree

  1. Add the baking soda, ham, bay leaf, carrot, and onion.

  2. Boil until the beans can be easily mashed, about 1 to 2 hours.

  3. When tender, remove the ham and press the beans through a colander.

  4. Return the beans to the pot, add the butter, and enough cream to achieve a soft mashed potato consistency.

  5. Season with salt and pepper and serve very hot.

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. Beans + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,443 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beans + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,242 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,733 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Dried red beans
Form the bulk of the dish, softening into a thick puree once fully cooked.
Baking soda
Raises the cooking water's pH, helping the beans soften more quickly.
Ham
Adds savory, smoky flavor to the cooking liquid as the beans simmer.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the pureed beans.
Cream (in the method)
Adds moisture and richness, loosening the puree to a soft mashed potato consistency.

The step that matters

Boil until the beans can be easily mashed. Beans must be fully tender before pureeing; undercooked beans stay grainy and hold their skins. Cooking time varies with bean age, so test by mashing rather than relying on the clock alone.

Swap the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, ham, onion, butter, pepper):

  1. Beansthe original
  2. Black-eyed peafits about as well
  3. Lentilsfits less well
  4. Peasfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, ham, onion, butter, pepper. 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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