Bean around the world?

How many of us have stared into our cupboards and wondered: "Why did I panic-buy all these dried beans?"

Many cultures around the world have a strong affection for the humble pulse and legume. As I think about what I enjoy most about travel, at a time when movement is still restricted, I remember flavourful bean dishes rooted in tradition that also tell a story.

Although I have spent much time travelling the world and eating petite portions crafted by Michelin-starred chefs who use tweezers to delicately plate their food, I also enjoy searching for heartier dishes.

Culturally, bean dishes are more than just a quick and cheap way to feed a large family.

Each bean dish is also a culinary tale of a city, country or region.

In north-eastern France, for instance, a casserole dish marries ingredients from both its German and French rulers.

And who can visit Brazil without eating its national dish, feijoada, a humble plate of food representing slavery and also the power struggles which still exist today?

The dishes I share here not only convey the "love" of cooks preparing good food for loved ones, but they also carry national identities. They are recipes passed down the generations which celebrate the great, and perhaps not so humble, bean.

Asturias, the region of north-west Spain, is known for its rugged coast, religious sites and fabada asturiana - a bean stew made with locally grown white beans, vegetables and Asturias blood sausage.

Die-hard fans know the best time to visit Spain is in March during Cultural Bean Week, to sample the best fabada cooked by the country's best chefs in a friendly culinary battle.

Similarly, in Madrid, a fragrant bean dish called cocido madrileno not only feeds Spanish families on weekends, but it also tells the integration story of Spain's Sephardic Jews. The Jews created this revered dish so they could cook it ahead of time and eat well during Shabbat, their day of rest.

While the ingredients have changed from kosher to a carnivore's delight with offal, sausages and lots of pork and beans, the eating ritual of cocido madrileno remains the same.

The correct way of eating cocido is known as tres vuelcos (three courses), which includes having broth with noodles, followed by eating the legumes and vegetables before you start on the meat.

I followed this time-honoured tradition in one of the best restaurants for cocido madrileno in Madrid, the Taberna La Bola (Calle de la Bola, 5, 28013 Madrid), where the Verdasco family has been cooking it since 1870.

A very popular bean casserole from France is the cassoulet from southern France, but a more iconic and enjoyable bean stew, to me, is the baeckeoffe from Alsace.

The baeckeoffe (bakers' oven) symbolises France in a bowl. Baked in ceramic earthenware unique to Alsace, this casserole consists of vegetables, beans and lots of Alsatian white wine which is sealed by baguette dough to trap all the flavours and juices released during the slow-cooking process.

Solidarity and a sense of community is reflected in the baeckeoffe. Before households had their own oven, people would take their own baeckeoffe to the bakery in the morning, place it in the oven, then pick up the cooked dish as they returned from work in the evening.

My friends, chefs Sylvie and Thierry of Restaurant Am Lindenplatzel in Mittelbergheim, tell me that while a traditional baeckeoffe is made with leftover cured meats and lots of Alsatian wine, many restaurants in the area add a little more of "Alsace" to their versions with foie gras, slow-braised beef and sauerkraut.

Asians do not know how to make dessert - this is something I have heard many times before and have refuted.

While the Chinese have an affection for strange flavour combinations that bring together sweet, salty and sour in one heaped spoonful, Asia is also a continent of bean eaters and it is home to one of the greatest bean sweets known to man - red bean paste.

The origins date back to Japan's Heian period, when travellers from China made buns stuffed with meat. However, Buddhist monks revolutionised the bao by stuffing it with sweetened azuki beans, thanks to their strict diets.

Like many families, my Taiwanese-Australian family will often eat red bean desserts in celebratory times.

White glutinous mochi balls filled with red bean paste or sweetened black sesame mark the end of the lunar festival and, more importantly, symbolise unification for family and friends near and far.

The Taiwanese are lovers of red beans and you can find these little delights as an accompaniment to milk tea, soya bean puddings and, of course, lavishly draped over a summer dessert known as baobing.

The Japanese have turned red beans into an art form with beautifully made red bean desserts like taiyaki - fish-shaped crispy pastry stuffed with red bean paste.

My personal favourite is the more elegant dessert, daifuku, which has an outer layer of snow-white mochi and a filling of creamy red bean paste. This is best enjoyed while lingering in a traditional tea house in Japan. Pair the delicacy with a strong bitter cup of matcha tea.

Chef Jorge Guzman of Petite Leon in Minneapolis has the fondest memories of the Yucatecan dish, frijol con puerco. Black beans and pork served with fresh condiments such as radish, cilantro and avocado have the flavours and colours of Mexico on a plate.

Chef Guzman recommends eating it with a sauce called Chiltomate, a tomato and habanero chile salsa, for authenticity.

Another tradition is that the beans must be consumed on Mondays and this dates back to early times when meat was slaughtered on Saturday and preserved before refrigeration was invented.

"My family would eat this on Mondays at my grandmother's house," he says. "I cook this dish only for special people in my life or very close friends."

A similar dish from Brazil is the feijoada, a black bean stew made with offal, pork and leftover cuts of meat.

While the dish is often linked to slavery during the mid-16th century when Portugal imported slaves to Brazil from Africa - it is rumoured that the slaves created the stew for survival, collecting food scraps, beans and leftover meat to feed themselves - nowadays Brazilians of every class consume feijoada.

No doubt, the dish reminds Brazilians of the resilient and hardworking men and women who are the backbone of their country.

When you enjoy feijoada with Brazilian friends and sip caipirinha, a minty cocktail made with the country's speciality sugarcane liquor, you will soon blend in like a local.

An unresolved and heated debate in the United States rages on - does chilli have beans?

Well, according to an old Texan saying, "If you know beans about chilli, you know chilli ain't got no beans".

So if you are from Texas, you will definitely not eat a bowl of "red" (as the locals affectionately call it) with beans in it.

But if you are from other southern states in the United States, you might just be enjoying a bowl of chilli with beans to ramp up your daily protein intake.

One thing is for sure: Chilli is as ubiquitous in the South as its barbecue culture.

Today, chilli is considered an unofficial national dish served over spaghetti in Ohio and even spooned over hot dogs in Michigan.

Which leads to another argument: Who, in fact, invented chilli?

Some say it dates back to American cowboys, while others attribute the meaty stew to the migration of Mexicans.

I think both arguments are best left for the Americans to settle, so just focus on enjoying it with a large piece of cornbread... or should it be with saltine crackers?

If you are not from New Orleans, you may not be aware of the city's deep love of red beans.

It is a New Orleans tradition for people to gather over a pot of simmered beans and catch up on family affairs.

My friend Lauren, born and raised in New Orleans, says red beans and rice mean one thing: home.

"My favourite red beans and rice come from my grandmother's kitchen in rural Louisiana. I have fond memories of the dish being the focal point of many family gatherings, such as Christmas and family reunions."

Locals love red beans so much that an annual parade, Krewe of Red Beans, takes place the day before the Mardi Gras festival, with locals dressing up in their favourite red bean costumes before eating red beans and rice well into the night.

This is also an emblematic Creole dish, which some believe was derived from using up Sunday dinner ham to bulk up boring leftovers for a Monday meal.

Without any invitation to the house of Lauren's grandma just yet, I have marked Dooky Chase (www.dookychaserestaurants.com) and Willie Mae in New Orleans (williemaesnola.com) as the best places to savour this local delight.