“I want a bean feast” announces Veruca Salt in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. I used to think this was just another of her random demands, but it turns out that a bean feast is a real thing.

Jacob Jordaens [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The original bean feast, though, comes from a Twelfth Night tradition. Bake a pie or cake, and hide a single bean inside it. Whoever gets the bean becomes the “bean king” and is fêted and toasted for the rest of the night. This sounds really fun, especially the part when every time the king drinks everyone else roars “the king drinks!” and joins in.

• Bean-feast

Categories: Food & agriculture Sciences

The Generalist

I live in Auckland, New Zealand, and am curious about most things.