Bayo Beans

[rancho_gordo]

Fate keeps on happening. I had some leftover Bayo beans and decided to use them to make Diana Kennedy's Sopa Tarasca, halving the recipe as I only had one cup or so. I made the soup and it was delicious and then I vaguely remember some discussions on the list re Sopa Tarasca and several different methods. Kennedy only calls for "pink or pinto" beans but from reading the threads here, more common is the Bayo. What luck that I had some!

The Bayo we grew looks very clearly to be a cranberry family bean. It looks like a pinto but is pinker and when cooked, I'd say it's a little more dense, less creamy but more velvety. Does this sound right? What confuses me is I was told several times that the name is a bastardization of bayou.

I guess what I'm asking is if you can tell me a little something about this bean.

The soup was beyond swell, by the by.

[caroline]

Rancho Gordo, I've been poking about a big with your questions. Bean terminology, as you know better than I, is not an exact science.

The Diccionario Gastronomía Mexicana says that bayo is simply another name for the flor de mayo bean. The flor de mayo is probably the commonest bean in central Mexico and sounds like your description--like a pinto but a paler pinkish color. It's cooked in all the usual ways. And bayo in Spanish means bay as in the color of bay horse. I'd guess that is a more likely source than bayou.

Then I asked around here which counts, after all, as central Mexico. And the whole question turned a bit murkier. In local terminology, there are three pink beans in this region, flor de mayo, flor de junio, and rosa de castillo. They are very similar except the last is a bit bigger than the first two. And there are three yellow beans, bayo which is slightly yellow (oh dear), peruano which is slightly more so, sort of pale greenish yellow, and garbancillo (which is not a garbanzo) and which is is almost yellow.

I'd guess though that you've got what is normally called a flor de mayo.

Not sure this helps,

Rachel

Edited December 2, 2004 by caroline (log)

[rancho_gordo]

You are so swell for answering this!

The bean I have is a true cranberry bean and not a flor de mayo or anything close. So I think it's a different bean.

However I love Flor de Mayo and especially flor de junio and am thrilled to know they are also known as bayo. This is going to make my search a little easier the next time I'm south.

We grow the peruanos (but market them as mayacoba, also correct but more exotic!) and what we've been calling garbancitos that look a bit like garbanzos but unfortunately taste exactly like navy beans (ZZzzzzz.......)

Rosa de Castillo is a great name.

Ain't beans grand? You've really been a huge help!

[caroline]

Well, to continue our on-again off-again bean conversation, I don't think the beans called bayo in this part of the world are cranberry beans. Whether loose or in bags or canned, they always seem to be a pale yellow bean. No red markings like a cranberry bean. That is unless there are cranberry beans without any cranberry marks.

And if the Diccionario is right that in some parts of Mexico they are a synomyn for flor de mayo, that's certainly not true in this part of Mexico. Here they are always clearly distinguished.

Just for what it's worth,

best,

Rachel

[esperanza]

Several months ago I had a long talk with a dry bean vendor in Pátzcuaro about just this sort of nomenclature issue. By the time he finished 'splaining it to me my eyes were crossed, so there are lots of details that I don't remember. The conversation reminded me of a child's review of a book he'd read for class: "This book told me more about penguins than I really wanted to know."

The vendor showed me, for example, the difference between rosa de castillo normal and rosa de castillo injertado, as well as differences between other normally-grown beans and their hybrids. The predominate difference in all cases is size. He also told me how to tell the difference between canario and rosa de castillo (if I recall correctly the two we were comparing): differences in length and joining (or not) of the color striations on the bean!

The most commonly cooked bean here in Guadalajara is the peruano. Here it's a pale yellow bean less than a centimeter long, somewhat oval in shape. There is also peruano bola , a bean the same color but rounder.

Like Rancho Gordo, I prefer flor de junio, with flor de mayo a close second. The Pátzcuaro bean vendor answered some questions about frijol garrapato, which was the start of my conversation with him. I'd never seen frijol garrapato before; he told me that it was grown regionally and harvested for just a few weeks, and was very little known outside the Meseta Purépecha. I bought a kilo and have prepared them twice. They're a grayish-brown bean, about the size of a flor de mayo. They cook to a much smoother consistency than other beans and have a distinctly different flavor. I don't want to like them even better than flor de junio, since I've never seen them for sale here at home. I can imagine myself driving the four hours to Pátzcuaro to buy for-pete's-sake beans!

Have we talked about the differences between regular beans and frijol nuevo? To me, buying frijol nuevo is a little like buying beaujolais nouveau--an exhilirating once-a-year experience.

[rancho_gordo]

I think my bean is not a real Bayo or maybe the original story is true that this is from the South (bayou) and that there is a seperate bean in Mexico.

Here's what I have:

Have we talked about the differences between regular beans and frijol nuevo? To me, buying frijol nuevo is a little like buying beaujolais nouveau--an exhilirating once-a-year experience.

I just made a pot of runner cannellini, three weeks out of the ground. Talk about a bowl of heaven!

[caroline]

No those don't look a bit like the bayos around here. But I'm not sure real or not real is the right word to use.

Ah we wheat eaters are so deprived, Esperanaza. No new wheat products. But I think of the enthusiasm in other parts of the world for new rice, new yams, all the fall maize dishes in Mexico. So cheer on the frijoles nuevos.

Have a great time in the Yucatan, Rancho Gordo. Never been there so I have no ideas to offer. But when you get back I want to pursue the question of the black eyed pea in Mexico,,

Cheers,

Rachel

[caroline]

Just to keep things tidy, I'm replying to your Yucatan bean comments here Rancho Gordo. So American bayo beans are different from Mexican bayo beans! Nice to hae confirmation.

And I've been surveying the line up of beans that are commonly available around here in the supermarkets. Nothing rarefied, just what's widely available.

The flor de mayo family (for want of a better word), including junio y rosa de castilla

The bayo or amarillo family including peruano and garbancillo

The alubia or blanco family (alubia grande, chica and sometimes carita)

The pinto family (though they're nothing like as commonly used as in Texas)

The negro family

And closely related, habas, garbanzos, and lentils (lentejas)

cheers,

Rachel

[theabroma]

RG, those look like some variety of pinto to me. Usually the Flor de Mayo/Junio, etc., while a little speckled, has a rosy brownish base color.

The other thing to check is how they cook. Some varieties will just not ever really cook down into a creamy mass like pintos, flor de mayo, blacks, etc., but instead get to a certain degreee of doneness and then just swim about in the cooking liquid. What I have always called Bayos and Peruanos are two types of the latter. It is rather like the differences between short grain rices like arborio or valenciana and ultra long grains like basmati and dom siyah. One type just will not cook up like the other. Period.

I have used bayos and peruanos in baked bean dishes, and they come out intact.

I had not thought of it until this discussion got underway, but popular nomenclature of beans is almost as confusing as that of chiles.

Theabroma

[caroline]

Just as confusing. And interestingly neither Mexican cookbooks nor those published in the US describing Mexican cooking do anything to sort out beans. Here's your chance, Rancho Gordo,

Rachel

[rancho_gordo]

Just as confusing.  And interestingly neither Mexican cookbooks nor those published in the US describing Mexican cooking do anything to sort out beans.  Here's your chance, Rancho Gordo,

Rachel

←

Perhaps the venerable institution known as eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters would like to send me around the world, or even Mexico, to document beans. I'd be honored!!!!

For the record, here's the Bayo I got in the Yucatan:

and here is what they referred to as Bayo Blanco:

and for the curious, here is the Alubia:

So this thread starts out with me making the Tarascan soup (Kennedy bean version) with a cranberry bean. I can tell you it was great. Since then I've been experimenting and you can generally acheive agreat results for soup using 1/3 pureed beans, 1/3 tomatoes and 1/3 chicken stock. Onion, garlic and oregano all help the cause. Top off with fried tortilla strips and call it soup!

[caroline]

Yup the bayos look like those around here. I've never run across bayo blanco. Could it be the regular alubia around here? Your photo of alubias looks as if it could be alubia chica though it's hard to judge the scale.

I'll referee your application to the egullet society--for a kickback of course! I get to come along,

Rachel

[Corinna]

I'm probably the last person to try the Rancho Gordo beans, but I have some b'day money and am finally putting together an order. I'd like to buy the book, along with some NM chile powder and a couple types of beans. I have my eye on cannellinis, midnights and garbanzos. I'll be using them primarily for soups and dips. Which are your favorites/must-trys?

Edited August 30, 2010 by Corinna (log)

[Katie Meadow]

RG's Mexican oregano is worth adding to your order if you are going to cook any southwestern-type beans. The Rebosero beans are a relatively new item (at least new to me.) They are terrific, and may not be permanently available. Good Mother Stallard beans are excellent for soup, but they seem to be in stock most all the time. Since shipping is a flat $8 per order it pays to split an order with a friend.

[Corinna]

Thank you, Katie. I will be sure to get some oregano as well.

[blue_dolphin]

Corinna, I order RG beans myself pretty regularly. For some reason I decided paying $1/pound for shipping was OK so I try to order at least 8 pounds. Not a problem - usually it's more. My regulars:

Ojo de Cabra (Goat's Eye) is one of my favorites, along with Good Mother Stallard. You should try one of them or both. They are great by themselves, in my favorite pasta with beans and greens or mashed up as a dip.

You mentioned Black Midnights and you can't go wrong with them. I use them for black bean chili, black bean soup and they're great in a black bean and roasted corn salad. I usually get at several lbs of them when I order.

I also second your pick for Cannellini beans. Sometimes I struggle with getting them fully cooked without falling apart but that just makes them great for dips.

Yellow Indian Woman beans are another one that I like a lot because it works well on its own, in salads, or smashed up with garlic and olive oil into a warm bean spread.

The Christmas Lima's are great in the recipe from the book with beets and quinoa and are worth the purchase for that alone. You didn't mention salads as a use and I usually shy away from the bigger beans but this recipe is a keeper.

Tepary beans are something I like to keep on hand because they work in soups, salads and spreads. And they're so darned cute!

The Vallarta beans are really versatile and hold their shape very well compared with some other light skinned beans.

Just my 2 cents.