# Are we Brits the only people who like baked beans? Even the refugees won't eat them! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 9, 2002, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634 "2002-09-09T11:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634/61 "2002-09-10T13:25:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by InternetLegend \* > \*\*you don’t have to have remembered to soak white beans overnight and then cook them for hours in order to serve them \*\* Well, the whole idea behind baked beans (and most bean dishes, as a matter of fact) is that They AREN’T labor-intensive. You put the pot in the oven and you can forget about it for hours. And all you guys who are talking about cornbread with baked beans? You’ll find cornbread tastes better with pinto beans that have been simmered with chopped onion, red pepper, and a chunk of smoked bacon. And a big slab of raw onion (or maybe a few green onions) on the side. Pintos and cornbread are SOUTHERN. Baked beans and brown bread are YANKEE FOOD. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634/62 "2002-09-11T12:41:16Z")
Britain is one of the major advanced nations of the world. THis has been achieved through our outstanding scientists and R & D programmes. So from the home of the Computer, DNA, Penecillin and the Sinclair C5 (look it up)… British science’s finest moment (warning contains beans) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2090844.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2090844.stm) ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634/63 "2002-09-11T12:52:58Z")
From the same source a great insight into baked beans and the national character of we British (it may explain why we are so bellicose). FWIW I would miss pork pies more than beans. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/213054.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/213054.stm) And there is no way on earth I am explaining who Chris Evans is. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634/64 "2002-09-11T13:36:27Z")
Beware of bombast from the bean boffins. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634/65 "2002-09-11T13:50:55Z")
Bean boffins bite back at basic bean bafflement. Buyer beware. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634/66 "2002-09-11T15:52:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlstretchingtime \* > \*\*Also as a previous poster pointed out BBs are an incredibly pikey thing to give to a charity collection as they cost about 15p in a supermarket. \*\* That reminds me of the time when my sister’s school was having a food drive, and one of my sister’s teachers decided to give an incentive to bring food in–a bonus point to add to any test or quiz for each item brought in. Well, my sister hadn’t done well on a recent test, so she used her allowance to buy an _entire case_ of ramen (Japanese noodle soup that costs about US$0.10 or less a pack and is a staple of the diets of college students and others who are perpetually broke.) I told her that this was defeating the purpose of food shelves–they are places people go for food when they are _sick_ of ramen! She was able to raise her grade by 24 points or so, though. At least ramen is “ethnic”. ---
**Author:** ![Doubting\_Robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Doubting\_Robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubting_Robert)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634/67 "2002-09-11T18:25:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by InternetLegend \* > **Well, when you have 10 minutes to get dinner on the table in order to leave enough time to make the kids bathe before bed and you realize that your youngest is in a stage where she won’t touch whatever protein source you’ve prepared, half a cup of baked beans will provide her with 6 grams of protein.** Many (admittedly, not all) of the books and websites I have seen state that there are 8 (some sources say 9) essential amino acids which cannot be manufactured by the human body and that beans and other legumes such as peanuts contain only about four of these amino acids in any significant quantity. To get any real value from the protein in the beans, they need to be eaten at the same meal (or on the same day, according to at least one source) with a good source of the remaining essential amino acids. Fortunately, whole grains provide the amino acids lacking in beans, and vice-versa. The British have the right idea, serving their beans on toast, if they use whole wheat toast. Sweet corn is an even better compliment to the proteins in beans. Beans and cornbread make a great vegetarian source of protein. Many native American tribes thrived on a diet which consisted mainly of the “three sisters” - corn, beans, and squash. No, I am not a dietitian by training or vocation, nor am I a vegetarian, and, as I said before, not every source agrees with what I just said, but many sources do. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634/68 "2002-09-11T20:50:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlstretchingtime \* > \*\*Just to clarify: This is the list of ingredients from the [heinz.co.uk](http://heinz.co.uk) (who make the benchmark baked bean) of a can of baked beans. > > Beans (50%), Tomatoes (26%), Water, Sugar, Modified Cornflour, Salt, Spirit Vinegar, Sweetener - Acesulfame Potassium, Spice Extracts, Herb Extract > > As you will see there is quite a lot of sugar in there. > > Now for the bit that will baffle the colonials: > > We like them on pizzas. Really we do. They’re smashing on pizzas. \*\* Ick…you call THAT baked beans? Here in Yankeeland, we bake ours in a mixture of molasses and/or maple syrup and then throw a shitload of pork products and spices in there. Tomato sauce? The very nerve of you British people astounds me. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634/69 "2002-09-12T05:49:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > Gidday **Apollyon** long time no er… read. Gidday to you **'Dog** , it has indeed been a while. Sadly work gets in the way of the SDMB much of the time. 🙂 > [@](#): > > Mmmmm. I’d be hungry if I wasn’t so full of vegemite and crumpets. Think there’s any chance of explaining **Vegemite** to the Yanks? 😃 People get very attached to their quirky cultural tidbits… couple of years back when I was working in Vancouver one of the other Kiwis I was working with found a little company that specialised in Ozzy delicacies – Vegemite, Arnott’s biscuits, and the like. We were even able to get **Pineapple Lumps**. 🙂 (Not quite the Kiwi variety, but pretty close… and we like Arnotts just fine). Also everytime someone would go up from NZ to Canada the Kiwis on-site would always request shipments of **Cadbury Milk Chocolate** and **Berocca** (foreigners: them’s fizzy vitamin tablets that the FDA won’t approve). 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-brits-the-only-people-who-like-baked-beans-even-the-refugees-wont-eat-them/127634.md?page=3)