You’ve heard the expression, “As American as Apple Pie.” Well, in some quarters, there’s another expression, “As Muslim-American as Bean Pie.”
Bean Pies have been the signature food of Black Muslims in America since 1930, when Elder Mary Amanda Islam made the first bean pie in Detroit, Michigan. Sister Imani Muhammad relates that Elder Islam was studying under the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Master Farad Muhammad at the time she came up with the navy bean pie. “Early Southern cookbooks of the 1900’s have recipes for bean pies, but they use a different kind of bean,” Sister Imani told me. But the Nation of Islam specifically uses the Navy Beans.
The Navy Bean got its name from the United States Navy, where navy beans were served because of their rich nutritional content.
Motorists in practically every city have grown accustomed to clean-cut, well-groomed men, wearing the traditional bowtie that causes Nation of Islam members to stand out from the crowd. Always polite, always approaching the car with a smile, the young, or not-so-young man offers the motorist a bean pie for a small donation. Once you taste the delicious delicacy, you’ll find yourself craving more. Maybe taking that same route, around the same time, might cause you to find yourself in front of the same bean pie seller – or not.
What if there is a venue where you can get delicious, home-made bean pies all day long? Thanks to Imani’s Original Bean Pies, there is such a place. Located in the Quarry Event Center at 2423 East 75th Street, it’s the
place to go when you want to find yourself in bean pie heaven.
Imani Muhammad started her bean pie retail line as a homeschool project. She and her daughter were studying the navy bean, how it received its name, its nutritional value. Navy bean pie is a staple food that basically has the nutritional values that the body needs. It contains proteins, fiber, and vitamins. “Back in the day,” she tells us,
“You might have seen it referred to in the Bible as pulse. Daniel wouldn’t eat the King’s meat. He was only eating pulse.” She began to bake these pies. No two cooks are just alike, and no matter how closely one follows the recipe (or how slightly one deviates) the taste of the pie will depend on the cook’s own special gift. Imani and her daughter made navy bean soup, navy bean salad and navy bean pie. Her bean pie was so delicious, that after selling out at a fundraiser for the school, she took her husband’s advice and began to sell it,
“So fast forward,” says Sister Imani, “My biological children and the children in the daycare over the years helped to grow this company. We’ve been in a lot of major stores. We’ve shipped throughout the United States and now we’re trying to retail ourselves.”
That’s how Sister Imani ended up at the Quarry Event Center in the South Shore community. “And we’re excited about it!” she says. Her children, biological and daycare children are excited about it also. “We thought it was a good idea, seeing that they were technology babies, they really wanted to see people would have the ability to come to us and do the online sales. So, so far, so good.”
“So right now,” she says, “we’re just looking at what it looks like in regard to retail versus wholesale. Based on a consultation and balance sheets, we thought it would be a lot less work to sell them to the retail side as opposed to distribution. Especially since it’s a fresh product and we don’t use preservatives or anything like that.”
It has been a success indeed. The main product she is selling at the Quarry is bean pie. But it’s not just bean pies – it’s various variations of the traditional bean pie. “Of course, the original is still our best seller,” she says, “But we have one made with homemade cream cheese frosting. We have vegan bean pies. We have blueberry, peach and apple, and strawberry banana.”
Sister Imani is careful not to use any non-nutritional or “bad-for-you” ingredients. “No preservatives,” she repeats, “And we use raw cane sugar in our products.” (Note Unlike table sugar which has no nutrients, raw cane sugar contains significant amount of vitamin C, vitamin B2 (riboflavin), magnesium, iron, potassium, and phosphorus which are beneficial for the body. The calories are only around 15, while a teaspoon contains about 4 g of glucose (sugar), which is the healthiest form of sugar. The calories are only around 15, while a teaspoon contains about 4 g of glucose (sugar), which is the healthiest form of sugar.) She points out that they have used honey as well, but that’s usually by request. The raw cane sugar and honey are used mostly in Hibiscus Tea and Lemonade, two brand new beverages she has added to her product line. “We’ve also added navy bean soup,” she says, adding that “We’re doing that for one of our stores in the Auburn-Gresham community, and now that we’re in the Quarry a lot of our customers are asking for soup.”
Sister Imani caters Quarry jazz nights. Moving forward she will be introducing a wider variety of soups and wraps. She urges Chicagoans to come to the Quarry and see what she has to offer. It sure beats waiting at a red light hoping a Muslim brother will come along and offer you a delicious bean pie.
