Five things to know about the ever-popular bean

Historian Ken Albala spent more than a year eating a different variety of beans every day as research for his recent book, "Beans: A History" (2007 Berg). Here he shares five things you may not have known about beans.

• Peanuts aren't the only legume in disguise. Licorice, tamarind, fenugreek, jicama and carob also belong to the bean family.

• When the ancient Romans shipped an obelisk across the Mediterranean from Egypt, they packed it in lentils.

• The bright yellow zolfino bean from Tuscany has become so sought after that it can cost $20 a pound. The humble navy bean, which is the same species, costs about 69 cents per pound.

• Despite the name, coffee is not a bean, and on the bush they are called cherries.

• The botanical name for the "winged bean" is Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, which means four-sided noisy fruit. But it's not a scatological reference. The pods apparently "pop" when they open.