Left to right: Haricot vert and green beans

The habit of calling them string beans is hard to break. But there are so many names for green beans that it hardly matters anyway. More than 500 different types fill the species, known as Phaseolus vulgaris by its Latin botanical name. This genus includes virtually all legumes and pulses, and like many of our most popular vegetables, they’re technically fruits.

Green beans can be traced back at least 7,000 years, when they were first cultivated around the southern part of the New World, in what are now Mexico and Peru. From there, they trav­eled east to Asia and west to Europe and the Mediterranean, where they were incorporated into agriculture and cuisine.

Today, green beans go by many names: snap beans, for the way they sound when broken; pole beans, though many varieties grow in a bush that doesn’t require staking; and runner beans, probably dubbed for the tentacle-like shoots that run out ahead of the stems during growth. The smallest, most precious varieties maintain their French translation haricot vert, although they are no longer only a product of France. The longest Chinese varieties can grow to two feet or so in length, and are known as both longbeans and yardlong beans.

The world of green beans is both flat and round. In general, Italian-style green beans sport slightly wide, flat pods, and thus are sometimes called broad beans, also another name for lima beans. Less confusing, round beans encompass practically everything else. The most common domestic commercial cultivars are the Kentucky, Triumph, Opus, Bronco, and Prosperity. Auxiliary products include green bean sprouts, dried green beans, and green bean flour.

Although green beans are now grown throughout the world for year-round fresh availability, the peak season remains spring and summer. Fresh green beans come in bushels, weighing 26-31 lb., as well as cartons of various sizes. Increas­ingly, value-added pre-snipped products are available, generally in 10-lb. bags. Store fresh beans with good air circulation, at 40º-45ºF, with high humidity, about 95%. Because they are ethylene-sensitive, keep them away from tomatoes, bananas, and the like.

Frozen green beans are blanched or even multi-blanched, before further processing. Many are cut for convenience—some are buttered or sauced—and all require less cooking time than fresh. They come in various packs, ranging from cases of 1.5-lb. bags to 20- or even 32-lb. bags. Extruded and breaded green beans in the form of rings and sticks are relatively new to this market. Canned string beans are also precooked and packed in brine, sometimes with preservatives to retain color.

Green beans look their best when the color remains bright after cooking. Try blanching them, followed by a plunge in an ice bath, to achieve this vivid result.

Cooking methods for green beans vary widely from long stewing with tomatoes, to quick stir-fries and relishes. Lightly steamed, they are classic in composed salads. Green-bean casseroles are an increasingly popular comfort food, while long ago Escoffier advocated them in a light and lively puree. A traditional Chinese dessert is a sweetened green bean soup, made by steeping dried beans.

All that glitters is not green
Yellow wax beans are the most common snap bean of a different color, though there are many other shades available. Whether modern hybrid or rescued heirloom, these choices vary in both flavor and cooked presentation. Some deliver surprises, like the Blue Lake Snap, a traditional-looking green bean with little black seeds. Dragon Tongue beans have flat shells mottled with bronze tiger stripes. There are several red and purple varieties, including Royal Burgundy and Sequoia. But beware: Many of these beautiful beans turn back to green when cooked.