A little over a year ago, on January 15, 2019, I did a post about some different and obscure varieties of beans--specifically, yellow eye, soldier and Jacob's cattle beans. I also discussed lupini beans on September 15, 2018. Today I thought I'd try this again with a new batch, which I picked up at my local Shop Rite supermarket. So it'll be small white beans, pink beans, and Roman beans for this post.
Roman beans go by many titles, including borlatti, rosecoco, cranberry, and Saluggia. Oddly, though, they were first developed in the South American country of Columbia. However, this bean is synonymous with Italy because they became particularly popular there in the early 1900's. They resemble pinto beans, only bigger. Also, pre-cooked they have a distinctive white background with red specks pattern. (They become a dull pinkish-brown after cooking.) Roman beans are often used in soups, in chili, or are baked. Saluggia, Italy is apparently best known for two very diverse things--this type of bean, and being the location of nuclear waste storage sites.
Pink beans are very popular in Mexico, the southwestern part of the U.S., and the Caribbean. They are sometimes called Santa Maria pinquitos, since they're a major part of barbecue dishes from that valley in California. Pink beans are similar in size to great northern beans and pinto beans, and as the name suggests, have a pinkish-brown hue. Consumers often put them in chilis, or make them into refried beans.
Small white beans also go by many monikers, such as haricot, pearl haricot, pea, Boston, and navy beans. The last name is the most common, and they got it after they were begun to be served to sailors in the U.S. Navy starting in the mid-1800's. Small white beans are sometimes confused with white kidney beans and great northern beans. As far as preparation goes they are most often baked.
All these beans, like beans in general, are quite nutritious. I'm sure many folks call them a "Super Food." Vegetarians and vegans especially prize them because they're a good source of non-animal derived protein. They also have some iron and potassium, and a decent amount of dietary fiber.
The manufacturer for all of these beans was the same, Goya. For a background on that company, please consult my post on May 25, 2016, which was about Brazilian cookies, and my post about Spanish cookies on January 6, 2018. I won't bother to repeat myself, so at this point I'll just move to the beans' reviews.
1) Goya small white beans: All of the beans I'll discuss came in 15.5 ounce/439 gram cans. These beans were an off-white color, although I thought they were more medium-sized than small. Cold, out of the can they tasted like regular beans--no more, no less. Mixed in with some Taco Bell Nachos Bell Grande they tasted much better, as the flavor combination of the beans with nacho chips/crisps, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, etc. was quite winning.
2) Goya pink beans: These were a reddish hue, and were noticeably bigger than the small white kind. Plain and cold they were a bit fleshier and meatier than the white ones, but they once again pretty much tasted like regular beans. And as with the previous, mixed in with the Nachos Bell Grande was a marked improvement.
3) Goya Roman beans: Since they'd obviously been cooked before the canning process, they had their boring pinkish-brown cooked color rather than the cool white-with-red-speckles pattern. They were even bigger than the pink beans. Once again, the taste when eaten cold was fairly typical and pedestrian, although their bigger, fuller flavor did make them the best of the bunch. And like the others they were significantly tastier when added to the Nachos Bell Grande.
Therefore, to sum up, all of these were decent beans. If you like beans in general, I think you'll probably enjoy these, too.
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