Plenty of Pulses Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Some legumes which are classified as pulses, because their primary use by humans is based on using their dried seeds as food, may also be eaten fresh, used to feed livestock, etc. The six incorrect options used here are not grown for their dried seeds, but for other primary purposes: clover and alfalfa are used as stock feed, peanuts and soybeans are important as sources of oils (but both have other culinary uses, too), while green peas and green beans are eaten fresh, rather than dried. The correct answers, while you may encounter them used as a fresh vegetable, are primarily produced for their seeds, which can be dried to keep for a long time, and which are generally high in protein.

Since the dried beans usually need to be soaked in order to restore their original moisture content before they are cooked, it has become common to find them already prepared (and often pre-cooked) in a can, making the preparation of traditional dishes much faster. Additionally, many pulses are toxic when raw, and must be cooked for a sufficient amount of time to destroy the toxins - another advantage of the precooked product. As a general rule, pulses are high in protein and fibre, making them a valuable addition to your diet. It should be noted that most of them are incomplete proteins, meaning they do not provide the full range of amino acids needed in the human diet; for this reason, they are often eaten with grains, which provide the complementary amino acids.

Let's start with the lima bean, the inspiration for this quiz. The seeds of Phaseolus lunatus, a plant of Andean origin, are also called butter beans. The two names are applied differently in various regions, so I won't try to provide a definitive explanation of how to tell which one is being referred to - my understanding is exactly the opposite of several sites I have consulted! Suffice to say that the lima bean is a traditional component of succotash, a mixture of corn kernels and beans (two of the Three Sisters traditionally cultivated in North America) which provides a complete protein dish. Succotash can be as simple as these two ingredients with some butter or cream, or it can have other flavourings added, such as onion, pepper (capsicum) or tomato.

The species Phaseolus vulgaris is known as the common bean - but it is not the green bean commonly served whole as a vegetable. It has a number of varieties, including the kidney bean - whose name comes from its shape, which resembles that organ. Red kidney beans are commonly used in Louisiana Creole dishes (such as red beans and rice); white kidney beans, also known as cannellini, are popular in Italian cuisine - they make an excellent addition to a minestrone. The navy bean, also known as haricot, is most widely seen in canned baked beans. The pinto bean is widely used in Mexican cuisine, such as refried beans. The black turtle bean, named for its hard shell, is one of the varieties of bean that are simply called black beans - you can find them used in such dishes as Brazil's feijoada or the Thai desert black beans sticky rice.

The mung bean (Vigna radiata), which is also known as green gram, was first domesticated in India, and is mostly grown in Southeast Asia, where they are used in a range of savoury and sweet dishes. This is also the most common type of bean used to make bean sprouts in Europe and North America.

Vigna mungo is known as black gram or urad - so you may have guessed it is the basis of the classic urad dahl, a spicy blend of stewed beans, onion and tomato. Black gram is also the most common base used to make the dough from which papadam are prepared.

The chickpea (Cicer arietinum), also known as the garbanzo, is one of the earliest legumes to have been cultivated, probably in the region of Syria. They are a key ingredient in Mediterranean dishes such as hummus and falafel (although I have met people who are passionate about using another bean such as white kidney beans to make their falafel. They are also widespread in Indian cooking, both as the protein of a curry and as a flour. Vegans appreciate the liquid produced when chickpeas are cooked, which is called aquafaba, to use as a substitute for egg white.

Black-eyed peas are a subspecies of the African cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) which is cultivated around the world. they have been grown in North America since being brought there by slaves in the 17th century. It has become a staple part of southern cuisine, in such dishes as Hoppin' John (beans and rice), eaten for luck at the New Year.

The lentil (Vicia lens) is named for its shape, which resembles a biconvex lens such as that fund in the human eye. They were first domesticated in the Middle East (there are several references to them in the Bible), before spreading more widely. There are a number of subspecies, often identified by color (red lentil, green lentil, etc.), all of which are widely used in dishes on the Indian subcontinent. A split lentil (dal) which does not require soaking before cooking into a soup or stew is the most popular, but whole lentils are used when it is desirable to have the bean retain its shape after cooking, rather than dissolving into a paste.

Fava beans (Vicia faba) are more commonly called broad beans outside the United States. Some subspecies are grown just as ground cover, and some for stock feed, but those with larger and softer seeds are used as human food. They can actually be consumed whole, when very young, served as a fresh vegetable, but they are more commonly eaten after removal from the mature pod. The large, flat green beans have a higher protein-to-carbohydrate ratio than most of the other beans here, making them preferable for those who need to control their starch intake. In Egypt, they are the bean of choice for making falafel, and are also the basis for dish ful medames, sometimes considered the national dish.

The azuki bean (Vigna angularis) is also known as the red mung bean (although cultivars may be white, grey, black, or mottled). It is grown throughout East Asia, and is the basis for anko, or red bean paste, which is commonly sweetened for use in desserts. Red bean paste is one of the common fillings for Chinese moon cakes, eaten at the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) is also called the butter bean - confusingly, since that name is also used in some places for the lima bean, as previously discussed. The plant has scarlet flowers (no surprise there), and it is often grown as a decorative pant, not just as a food source. A Greek variety with white flowers and white seeds is known as fasolia gigantes (giant beans), because of its extremely large beans; they are sometimes known in English as Greek elephant beans.