Basque-Style Bean and Kale Stew
A recipe by Spanish chef José Pizarro, featured in the UK paper The Guardian, caught our eye: a traditional Basque stew using Tolosa beans, which are famous and somewhat wonderful. A runner bean like ...
Steve Sando's Magnum Opus
When it comes to heirloom beans, Steve Sando has a corner on the market. The popularity of Sando’s Rancho Gordo beans has almost single-handedly lifted several ancient bean varieties out of obscurity, into our kitchens and onto the menus of some of the world’s most renowned chefs.
Sando’s love affair with heirloom beans started 20 years ago with a backyard garden in Napa and his first pot of Rio Zape beans from a vine he had grown himself. The flavor was entirely unique—like pintos with coffee or a hint of chocolate—and Sando was hooked. He started growing heirloom beans and selling them on weekends at Bay Area farmers markets. In those first years and in many since, he traveled to markets from Napa to Marin to Oakland and San Francisco like a bean evangelist—selling his beloved heirlooms, sharing bean stories, trading recipes and picking up bean-loving acolytes along the way.
Sando defines heirloom beans as “seeds that have been preserved for certain characteristics and passed down through generations.” Like heirloom apples and heirloom tomatoes, each variety has a unique flavor and personality all its own. Rancho Gordo sells dozens of varieties of heirloom beans, which Sando sources and grows on farms along the West Coast, Mexico and Europe. There are few more knowledgeable experts on selecting, cultivating and cooking beans. –Lisa Atwood
Sando’s newest cookbook, written with Julia Newberry and appropriately titled The Bean Book, is scheduled for release from Ten Speed Press this September. His encyclopedic knowledge of heirloom beans drives the content. The beautifully photographed volume features tips for sourcing, cooking and flavoring, followed by a classification of 50 different heirloom bean varieties, and coalescing around a diverse collection of 100 recipes for all types of bean dishes from appetizers and soups to stews, grains and patties. Steve Sando’s The Bean Book is available through booksellers nationwide, beginning September 10, 2024.
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