tepary

[prettygoodword]

tepary (TEP-uh-ree) - n., a twining bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) native to the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, cultivated for its seeds; the bean itself (often tepary bean in full).



Thanks, WikiMedia!

Comes in a variety of colors -- the ones grown locally are almost always the color of the right one. Cultivated as a staple especially in arid regions of North America because they are extremely drought tolerant -- our garden doesn't have any this year because we didn't get any garden in this year (it's been a long year) but the seeds we would have planted should still be good next summer. Very tasty, though they need soaking more than most beans. The name, first used in English in 1912, is from Mexican Spanish tépari, from an uncertain Uto-Aztecan language -- dictionaries variously cite Ópata or Eudeve tépar (with an accusative form tépari) or O'odham tʼpawi, "a bean". [Sidebar: the former name for the Tohono O'odham, an O'odham-speaking people who live west of town, was Papago, a multi-stage corruption of a longer O'odham word meaning "bean-eating-people," with the -pago part being that pawi root -- the name is deprecated for being derogatory.]

---L.

Comments

[ionelv]

After reading your post, I just bought some tepary beans from my local seed store as our summers are quite dry as of late. I hope they live up to their reputation :)

[prettygoodword]

They make great chili, especially with pork.

[ionelv]

My wife and I love chili, so we will definitely try to make it with tepary beans. Thanks!