Grant follows up on his chickpea vs. garbanzo poll, and shares an email on the subject from the U.S. Dry Bean Council. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Chickpea and Garbanzo Poll”
A few weeks ago, we took a question from a listener about the difference between garbanzo beans and chickpeas. Remember that?
Oh, yeah. Who knew there was so much to say? And the conversation just keeps on going.
It sure does. We did a survey, and we found out that people in the Southwest are a little more likely to use garbanzo, but generally both terms are used across the country for the same little bean that you might make into hummus or put in a salad or something.
But we also got an email from a fellow by the name of Charles Waksmith. And Charles works for the U.S. Dry Bean Council. He’s a food aid and emerging market specialist in Washington, D.C. He says, to be honest, they’re basically the same thing.
But in his business, they classify them differently on size and color. The rule of thumb is that the larger, creamier colored ones, often in the can, are garbanzos. And the smaller, darker ones are chickpeas. Who knew?
Very interesting, right? Well, obviously Charles and the entire Dry Bean Council know. The U.S. Dry Bean Council knows. He says it’s not really scientific, but he could get us the grain specifications if we insist.
I’m just imagining like a big fat government manual, you know, with charts and pictures and graphs and everything and like little sizing devices so you can measure to decide whether to put it in the chickpea pile or the garbanzo pile. I’m sure somebody needs to know that.
So that’s great. And I’m sure you asked him for one. Yeah, yeah. It’s fantastic. Your UPS guy is going to be mad at you. Thanks, Charles.
You can find that survey that we did about garbanzos and chickpeas on our website. Well, send us your observation about food words or interesting terms from your profession. The address is words@waywordradio.org.
Or you can always call us 1-877-929-9673.
