Rosso di Lucca bean

(Phaseolus vulgaris)

Dry bean with excellent stout bushes which mature reliably. Strongly-flavoured pink beans with red speckles look just like what you would expect gourmet chefs with exquisite taste to recommend. A Slow Food Ark of Taste variety with its own dedicated Presidium, this is a landrace with a long history of cultivation near the city of Lucca in Tuscany. In the words of its friends at Slow Food:

“Their intense fragrance and flavor and soft texture make Lucca Red Beans ideal for traditional first courses from Lucca, including soup with farro, zuppa alla frantoiana, and pasta and beans. Unfortunately, in recent decades, these dishes were progressively abandoned because restaurateurs and the local population considered them poor and of little interest. In combination with the high costs of traditional cultivation (which is characterized by a lack of mechanization), this disincentivized production and now only a few hobbyists continue to grow Lucca Red Beans, almost exclusively for their own consumption.

Careful sorting and selection made it possible to bring back pure varieties and to enhance the work of passionate growers who have maintained Lucca Red Beans and other varieties over the years. It took over 3 years for a growers association, with the help of the Tuscan regional germplasm bank, to undertake a meticulous research project that recovered 17 varieties that were historically cultivated in Lucca. Today, several producers cultivate these varieties in the countryside around Lucca: fifteen growers specialize in the red bean, and a cooperative brings together 50 regional farmers. The producers have created as association called Il Rosso and every season they multiply the beans and cultivate them without chemical intervention. The Presidium seeks to enhance this heritage and bring it to the market and encourages local restaurants to offer traditional Lucchese dishes based on the territory’s beans.” 

35 seeds/packet.