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Butter’d French Beans (1660) — Robert May’s Table Greens for a Holiday Feast

Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — exploring how early modern English cooks transformed simple vegetables into elegant side dishes fit for the season’s most abundant table.

Dutch-style still life of autumn fruits and vegetables representing the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving table. — *Still Life of Autumn Fruits and Vegetables* — shared image for the **Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series**, evoking abundance and the early-modern feast.

A Gentle Dish for the Early-Modern Table

By the mid-17th century, “French beans” — the New World haricot — had become a fashionable vegetable in England. Robert May includes several recipes for them in The Accomplisht Cook (1660), treating them tenderly with butter, vinegar, and spice. They offer a luminous green note amid the roasts, puddings, pies, and rich sauces of the season — a perfect complement to a modern Thanksgiving table inspired by early modern English cookery.

Historical Context

New World Origins: Haricot beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are native to Central and South America. Long before European contact, Indigenous farmers cultivated dozens of varieties—green beans, kidney beans, and shelling beans—across Mesoamerica and the Andes. They formed part of the “Three Sisters” agricultural system alongside maize and squash.

Arrival in Europe: Spanish explorers brought these New World beans to Europe in the early 1500s. By the 1530s they appear in Mediterranean gardens; by the 1550s they were fashionable in Italy and France, where they were prized for their thin, edible pods. England, following French horticultural fashion, adopted them slightly later—thus the English name “French beans.”

Adoption in England: By the late 1500s, green beans were grown in English kitchen gardens, though still considered something of an imported delicacy. Herbalists such as John Gerard (1597) describe “the French bean which cometh from beyond the seas,” distinguishing it from the older Old World broad bean (Vicia faba). These slender beans were more tender, easier to cook, and well suited to the new culinary trend of lightly prepared vegetables.

Why They Appear in May (1660): By Robert May’s time, French beans had become a regular feature in elite kitchens. His recipe aligns with the era’s preference for simple treatments—boiling, buttering, and seasoning—allowing the vegetable’s natural color and delicacy to shine. The touch of vinegar and nutmeg reflects early-modern taste for balancing “cold and moist” foods with warming spices.

From New World to Tudor Thanksgiving: The journey of the French bean—from Indigenous agriculture to Spanish ships, to French gardens, to English cookbooks—mirrors the broader Columbian Exchange that reshaped European foodways. Serving this dish at a modern Thanksgiving connects the contemporary holiday table with the very ingredients that transformed 17th-century English cooking.

Original Recipe

Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (London: 1660), p. 204.
Public link to the recipe on Archive.org

To stew French Beans.
Take your French beans and string them, then seeth them well in fair water; when they are tender, put them into a pipkin with some sweet butter, a little vinegar, pepper, and salt; and shake them well together. Serve them hot, with grated nutmeg cast upon them.

Modern Redaction — Butter’d French Beans (1660)

Ingredients

1 lb (450 g) green beans, trimmed
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)
⅛ tsp black pepper
Pinch grated nutmeg
Salt to taste

Method

Prepare the beans. String (if needed) and trim. Boil in salted water 4–6 minutes until tender.
Stew them. Transfer beans to a pan with butter, vinegar, pepper, and salt. Toss or “shake” over gentle heat until coated and glossy.
Finish with spice. Serve hot with grated nutmeg.

Period Technique: May’s instruction to “shake them well together” refers to warming vegetables in a lidded pan over coals — the ancestor of sautéing.

Ingredient Note: “French beans” were the newly fashionable New World haricot bean, introduced to England via Spain and France.

Other Period Versions

Gervase Markham, The English Huswife (1615–late 17th c.) — Attributed Version

Several later 17th-century printings and composite editions of Gervase Markham’s The English Huswife contain a recipe closely parallel to May’s, titled “To dress French Beans.” It does not appear in every surviving edition, and some publicly available scans (including the 1660 edition on Archive.org) omit this specific entry. This variation reflects the fluid nature of early-modern household books, which were often revised, expanded, or augmented by printers.

To dress French Beans.
Take your French Beans, and seethe them in fair water and salt till they be tender; then drain them, and put them into a dish with Butter, Vinegar, and a little beaten Pepper; and shake them well together upon the coals till the Butter be melted; then serve them hot, and sprinkle on them a little Nutmeg and Salt.

Editorial Note: This version is widely cited in modern secondary literature (including academic food historians), but the exact edition varies.

Because the Markham and May recipes are nearly identical in method and seasoning, they represent a shared English culinary practice rather than two entirely separate traditions.

Humoral Thinking: Beans were considered “cold and moist.” Butter, pepper, vinegar, and nutmeg balanced their temperament, making them more “wholesome” at table.

May’s Contribution: Robert May served noble and gentry households. His vegetable dishes show a shift toward lighter, more elegant preparations. In the context of a holiday table, these beans brighten richer roasts and pies.

Dietary Notes

Vegetarian
Gluten-free
Vegan option: use plant butter
Add toasted almonds for a period-style garnish

Sources & Further Reading

Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (1660).
Sara Pennell, The Birth of the English Kitchen, 1600–1850.
Ken Albala, Food in Early Modern Europe.

Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — Exploring how early modern English recipes—roasts, puddings, and sauces from Robert May and his contemporaries—might inspire today’s holiday table.

h2>Series Index – All Posts in the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series

AI Assistance Disclosure: Historical transcription, formatting, and redaction support were provided with the help of AI tools for research and editing. Some images were created or edited with AI tools. All historical interpretation and final text are curated and verified by the editor of Give It Forth.