Baked Beans are something we Brits really take for granted, whilst having a dedicated and eclectic palate, I have to admit that on long business journey's or when I was younger and lived abroad at various times, after the glamour and immediacy of a City had died down, I was left thinking about what I missed from home, after much debate, one of the things I missed most in almost every place was baked beans.

They are a formidable, easy to cook but intensely flavoured addition to a meal and whilst lacking the healthy sheen of Quinoa or the undeniable flexibility of the kidney bean they are indelibly British in my mind, perfect with egg and chips, corned beef hash, sausage and chips and all manner of other simple yet beautiful meals. Without a hint of sophistication or elegance they are filling, healthy and solid and a proud part of our culinary heritage no matter what the snobs might say.

I always felt the baked bean has been tainted somewhat by its association with flatulence, from the Mel Brooks film Blazing Saddles, through to the club staple of the 1990's, Mr Methane a man who played songs with his bottom, we always associate this humble and tasty side dish with bad wind, but we should celebrate it for its ability to help settle difficulties in the most turbulent belly!

Some might suggest the Boston Baked Beans involving molasses sugar and bacon are the real baked beans, but I would utterly disagree as these monstrous upstarts are too sweet and combine only with pancakes or other sweet foods, they lack the flexibility of our own baked beans and aren't a patch on them taste wise either.

Branston Baked Beans:

Created since 1922 Branston Baked Beans are up there with Heinz as the brand leaders, putting more emphasis on the flavour and consistency of the sauce than some of their supermarket rivals, their brand is excellent and really well received in our house.

Tin Looks:

The tin now looks much funkier and edgier than the photo you see, almost like a ready meal Nick Cave it is now housed in a dark, brooding 410g can with a picture of the beans surrounded by a sea of sinister blackness and the words Branston Baked Beans, it looks good, classy, understated and much more elegant than the slightly generic picture you can see above.

Price and Availability:

400g in total, this should feed a big lad who likes his beans or a family of 4 using controlled portion sizes, at a price of 69p per tin in Tesco or £2 for 4 tins, this is a fantastic store cupboard essential which can be eaten on their own, with toast or as part of a bigger meal option. These beans are available in all decent supermarkets and Iceland, they are well priced and widely available.

Health benefits:

There are 87 calories in a 100g serving which isn't brilliant, but the beans are filling, very filling and this means that you really can't eat too many to fill yourself up, so they are both healthy in moderation offering loads of starch and fibre and filling too.

Branston Baked Beans:

The tin looks great, the consistency of the tomato sauce is excellent, rich with sugary traces but not too much to make it sickly, the flavour has a lovely sweet tomatoey hint but is much more subtle than most other brands as there is some paprika in there to give it the slightest of edges, this brand really is a lot better than many of the gloopy sauced beans which consist of lots of sugar and additives, this tastes tomatoey with spicy aftertones and lends itself to slightly more foods than simple basic beans. The beans are well cooked, solid and don't mush up on contact and appear to have been very well sourced.

Overall;

Great price, good for your fibre intake, tasty with sausage and chips, toast a full English Breakfast or even Shepherds Pie, this is a versatile winner of a foodstuff, Branstons version is excellent and alongside Heinz is the best in the business and well worth checking out.