Bean Soup: Political Delight on Capitol Hill

I must confess while the present temperatures, 15-25 degrees, are not quite agreeable to the needs of my warm-blooded body, the near zero figures have received a warm reception from my chicken soup sipping taste buds, and probably those in and around Des Moines, Iowa, last weekend where the National Weather Service had issued a winter storm and ice warning for Saturday, Dec. 1.

According to the special weather bulletin, a winter storm and ice warning was issued across parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, the eastern Dakotas, Illinois and northern Michigan.

The cross-country storm, which blanketed the area with snow and ice as it pulled away to the east, caused airport delays and traffic nightmares in Des Moines, Chicago and Milwaukee. Also interrupted were the presidential campaign plans of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

This fast moving winter storm with Senator Clinton in its midst reminded me of a story I read the other day in Craig Claiborne's New York Times Food Encyclopedia.

At that time, like now, the weather was wintry and cold. As I was feeling a bit bored with the customary steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup I decided to try something new to warm my insides. After browsing through my copy of the Joy of Cooking 75^th Anniversary Edition by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker, I decided on Senate Bean Soup.

While lunch was simmering, I headed back to my cookbooks and other food related books to learn more about the soup as its name had me convinced there must be a "behind the scenes" story for this dish. And there was, of course.

According to Claiborne, The New York Times Sunday Magazine (January, 23 1938), ran an article entitled, "Cookery of a Nation Centers in the Capitol." The article explained how the menus of both the US Senate and House of Representatives featured bean soup. The recipes were said to be identical except that the House of Representatives chef simmered the soup for four hours and added a bit of pork while the Senate chef, George Dietrich, simmered his soup for a shorter time.

After an exhaustive search through the remainder of my food encyclopedias and culinary magazines, I set my investigative skills loose on the information highway and began searching for additional details on the Internet, as I was certain there must be more to the story.

Bean Soup as it turns out is a long-standing issue with lawmakers in our nation's capital. Senators Fred Dubois of Idaho and Knute Nelson of Minnesota are both credited with getting the dish up on Capitol Hill according to the official web site for the US Senate.

"Bean soup is on the menu in the Senate's restaurant every day. There are several stories about the origin of that mandate, but none has been corroborated. According to one story, the Senate's bean soup tradition began early in the 20th-century at the request of Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho. Another story attributes the request to Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota, who expressed his fondness for the soup in 1903." (1)

The mandate itself was inspired by the taste buds of Joseph G. Cannon, U.S. Speaker of the House from 1903-1911. Cannon, who had been in the mood for bean soup, was less than happy to discover its absence on the menu that day and exclaimed, "Thunderation, I had my mouth set for bean soup! From now on, hot or cold, rain, snow or shine, I want it on the menu every day." (2)

Since that time, Bean Soup has appeared faithfully on the menu of all Congressional dining rooms with the exception of September 15, 1943, when wartime rations left Capitol Hill's stock of Michigan navy beans, the soup's main ingredient, depleted. Clearly, this shows that getting ahead in the world largely depends on your knowing the right people as well as being in the right place at the right time.

Several lawmakers on the Hill have noted the popularity of this soup amongst both Democrats and Republicans.

It's illustrious history as a fixture on Capitol Hill is mentioned by Republican Senator Bob Dole in the book, Historical Almanac of the United States Senate: A Series of "Bicentennial Minutes" Presented to the Senate During the 100th Congress. Senator Bob Dole. U.S. Government Printing Office.1989. Senate Document 100-35.

Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson not only describes his fondness for the edible bean and its place in both Nebraskan and Senatorial history complete but also extends an invitation to those visiting Washington, DC to stop by the Congressional dining room so that they too may enjoy a hearty bowl of bean soup from Capitol Hill's kitchen. (3)

The late Senator Everett Dirksen, a Republican from Illinois, wrote the following homage to beans in 1963:

"It was many years ago that a very dignified and slightly belligerent senator took himself to the Senate Dining Room to order bean soup, only to discover that there was no bean soup on the menu. This dereliction on the part of the Senate Dining Room cooks called for an immediate declaration of war. So the senator promptly introduced a resolution to the effect that henceforth not a day should pass, when the Senate was in session and the restaurant open, that there would not be bean soup on the menu. It has, therefore, become an inviolate practice and a glorious tradition that the humble little bean should always be honored.

"There is much to be said for the succulent little bean--any kind of bean, be it kidney, navy, green, wax, Kentucky, chili, baked, pinto, Mexican, or any other kind. Not only is it high in nourishment, but is particularly rich in that nutritious value referred to as protein--the stuff that imparts energy and drive to the bean eater and particularly the senators who need this sustaining force when they prepare for a long speech on the Senate floor.

"I venture the belief that the marathon speakers of the Senate going back as far as the day of the celebrated "Kingfish," Senator Huey Pierce Long of Louisiana, and coming down to the modern marathoners in the forensic art such as Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon, both of whom have spoken well in excess of twenty hours and felt no ill effects, would agree the little bean had much to do with this sustained torrent of oratory." (2)

Only in American Politics could a simple tiny bean become a culinary icon!

References:

(1) Senate Bean Soup Retrieved Nov 2, 2007 http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_item/bean_soup.htm

(2) US Capitol Bean Soup. Retrieved November 2, 2007 http://www.soupsong.com/rsenate.html

(3) Senate Bean Soup: A Nebraska Favorite Retrieved November 2, 2007 http://bennelson.senate.gov/news/details.cfm?id=250224&&