Beef and Beans

History

"Beef and Beans" is a recipe printed in The Jewish Manual (London, 1846), where it appears in the meat-cookery chapter between the recipes "Kimmel Meat" and "Kugel and Commean." As printed, the dish is a piece of brisket of beef covered with water and skimmed of fat, stewed with "French beans cut small" and two onions cut in quarters, seasoned with pepper and salt, and finished by stirring into the beans a mixture of a dessert-spoonful of flour, one of coarse brown sugar, and "a large tea-cup full of vinegar," then stewing about half an hour longer. The flour, brown sugar and vinegar give the finished stew a thickened sweet-and-sour character; this describes only what the printed recipe specifies, nothing more.

The Jewish Manual was published anonymously, "Edited by a Lady," in London in 1846 and is generally regarded as the first Anglo-Jewish — that is, the first English-language Jewish — cookbook. The book is traditionally attributed to Lady Judith Cohen Montefiore, but that attribution is probable rather than proven: reference works describe her only as its "author, or coauthor," and the identity of the anonymous "Lady" has never been established with certainty.

Beyond its appearance in this book, the sources consulted here do not document the origin of this particular dish, who prepared or ate it, or any geographic migration or lineage for it. The historical record located does not support the earlier claim that its sweet-and-sour finish represents a Sephardic "agrodolce" tradition migrating into the kitchens of an Ashkenazi "urban middle class," and that framing is omitted.

Ingredients

• brisket of beef
• water
• 1/4 French beans
• 2 onions
• pepper
• salt
• 1 dessert-spoonful
• flour
• 1 dessert-spoonful
• coarse brown sugar
• 1 large tea-cup
• vinegar

Instructions

1. Take a piece of brisket of beef and cover it with water. Bring to a boil and skim off the fat that rises to the surface.
2. Add the French beans cut into small pieces, the two onions cut in quarters, pepper, and salt. Continue stewing.
3. When the meat is nearly done, combine the flour, coarse brown sugar, and vinegar together. Stir this mixture into the beans and continue stewing for about half an hour longer until the beef is fully tender.