FREE: Anasazi beans - Living History

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Anasazi beans are small, kidney-shaped, purple and white beans in the same family as pinto beans. They are used in Latin American and Southwestern cuisines, and have a mild, sweet flavor that pairs with a mealy texture. The beans cook much more quickly than regular beans, and they appear to have been a part of the human diet in the Americas for thousands of years. They are also marketed as New Mexico cave beans, Aztec beans, New Mexico appaloosas, and Jacob's Cattle beans.

The story of Anasazi beans varies, depending on who is telling it. In popular mythology, the beans were uncovered by an anthropologist, who discovered a 1,500 year old tightly sealed jar of them at a dig in New Mexico. Some of the beans germinated, and the new variety of bean entered cultivation again. Since most botanists agree that most beans are unable to germinate after approximately 50 years, it is more probable that the beans remained in constant cultivation in the Southwest, probably in Native American gardens, and that they were picked up by companies looking for new “boutique beans.”