The San Giacomo Filippo bean is an ancient variety of legume that is grown in Vignola di San Giacomo Filippo (So) and in Prata Camportaccio (So) where some associations manage a vegetable garden aimed at the recovery of this traditional cultivation.
It is a climbing plant and has a dual purpose: it is cultivated as both a bean that is eaten with the shell and also as a shelling bean. The pod is about 10-11cm long and just under 1.5cm wide. It has a flattened, straight shape with a curved beak shape near the bottom of the apex. When it reaches complete maturity, the pod does not show any dips between the seeds and appears greenish-yellow in colour with some purple spots. Once dried, the pod surface is wrinkled and pale yellow or light brown in colour with either scattered spots or none. Each pod contains 6 or 7 seeds which are 9-12 millimetres large, with a rectangular-elliptical shape that is almost round. The seeds are shiny, beige-pink in colour and have dark purple (almost black at times) diamond shaped spots either scattered all over or close together which seem to form concentric striae. The hilum is white and is surrounded by orange.
The tender, fresh pods can be eaten in a variety of ways (in soups, salads, etc.) while the seeds lend themselves to being shelled. The shelled beans are then used mainly in stews and soups.
The San Giacomo Filippo bean is not grown by very many farmers, it is primarily the elderly who keep the seeds. Should there be a lack of interest in continuing to cultivate this legume, the San Giacomo Filippo bean risks being lost entirely.
This bean variety has been the subject of research projects that have been completed by some professors and researchers from the University of Pavia, who have also collected a lot of information on a large number of local Lombard varieties in a publication ("Traditional Lombard agronomic varieties at risk of extinction or genetic erosion Vegetables and cereals: an overview ", G. Rossi, F. Guzzon, M. Canella, E. R. Tazzari, P. Cauzzi, S. Bodino, N. M.G. Ardenghi, Pavia University Press, 2019).
The research activities necessary for the reporting of this product in the Ark of Taste online catalogue were financed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the General Directorate of the Tertiary Sector and Corporate Social Responsibility – notice n° 1/2018 “Slow Food in action: communities protagonists of change”, pursuant to Article 72 of the Tertiary Sector Code, referred to in Legislative Decree No. 117/2017.
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