Baked Beans

[deird1]

I'm pretty sure they exist in America, but I'm not sure how common they are.

If my British character was sick and wanting baked beans on toast as comfort food,
a) how likely would it be for a Texan to know what he was after?
b) how weird would Texan think this was (comfort-food-wise)?
c) how easy would they be to get hold of?

Comments

[vicki595]

To get a hold of Heinz baked beans, they'd probably need to find a specialty English store or an 'international foods' aisle in a supermarket, or at least that's the case here in Connecticut, but we have a fairly largely substantial ex-pat population in the area.

[pepperjackcandy]

Wherebouts in Texas is he?

Because I'm almost positive that you can get for-real U.K. Heinz baked beans in the British food aisle at the HEB on DeZavala in San Antonio. 8-)

But, yes, we don't normally eat baked beans on toast, and most brands in the grocery store/supermarket are full of sugar (brown sugar, I think. Could be molasses, though). Blech.

[used_songs]

In South Texas, you'd be more likely to find pinto beans, borracho beans (http://www.recipezaar.com/121629), or refried beans (refrioles). The baked beans sold in grocery stores are super sweet - pretty much disgustingly so.

[mlleelizabeth]

The grocery store up the street from me in Dallas, Texas has an internationals food aisle, and one of the sections is food from the UK. They have cans of Heinz baked beans on that aisle. I haven't tried them yet, but I think a Texan in a big city with a similar aisle in their big chain grocery store might know what they are. Their first thought upon being asked for beans, though, would be to get the barbecue flavored or Boston baked beans, or possibly Ranch-style beans (which are more spicy and a lot less sweet than the others) that are more typical around here and as mecurtin says, they'd more likely be served with cornbread. Or maybe even tortillas, depending on where you were.

[hhertzof]

You can get something similar, marketed as "vegetarian baked beans" in a tangy or tomato sauce. I don't know how common they are in Texas, but the ones I buy are made by a major brand (Bush's, I think).