Cortale Beans

The small town of Cortale is located between the Pilla and Pesipa rivers, with the Lamezia Terme plain on one side and the Isthmus of Catanzaro on the other. The countryside around it is characterized by valleys of splendid chestnut and beech woods which gradually turn into pine forests as they rise. The fertile, water-rich soil is ideal for the cultivation of many crops: wheat, corn, vegetables and, most of all, the renowned Cortale beans.
Many historical references to the beans exist. In the so-called "Inchiesta Jacini," a parliamentary investigation into agriculture in Italy carried out at the end of the 19th century, senator Stefano Jacini writes: "They cultivate, to such an extent as to allow export to nearby towns, potatoes and a quantity of white beans, commonly called rognone (kidney), which have an exquisite flavor and are easy to cook."
Texts often refer to the "Cortalese bean" but there are in fact five different varieties: the Reginella Bianca (known as ammalatèddha, "more delicate"), the Reginella Gialla, the Cannellina Bianca (also called Rognonella due to its kidney shape), the Cocò Gialla (known as limunìdu) and the Cocò Bianca. These ecotypes have been selected over the centuries by farmers and their cultivation techniques passed down with pride through the generations. The seeds are medium-large, oval or kidney shaped and generally white in color, though the Reginella and the Cocò have a greenish-beige variant. All five have a thin skin, slightly floury flesh and a sweetish-sapid flavor.
The beans are sown at the end of June, either by broadcast sowing or in pockets. Only the hardier, late-ripening Cocò variety is sown at the start of the month and, unlike the other, shorter varieties, requires staking, usually with canes or mulberry sticks. The harvest takes place at the end of September (or the end of October for late-ripening varieties). When the pods are ripe, the plants are pulled up, tied in bunches and hung up from lines or the branches of fig trees. When the plants are dry, they are threshed by hand. The plants and the seeds are then separated, still manually, by winnowing them in the wind. The next stage is the spulicatùra, the manual selection of the best beans, which are then laid out in the sun to dry. Afterwards they can be stored for up to two years.
Each variety has different cooking times, ranging from 60 to 100 minutes. Generally the Cannellina Bianca and the Cocò Gialla (which turns red after cooking) are eaten boiled and dressed with olive oil, while the Reginella pairs well with short pasta and the Cannellina is often cooked with scilatelle, a type of pasta typical to Calabria. The Cocò beans are excellent in the traditional mushroom and bean soup, but Cortale’s most quintessential dish is indubitably the fagiolata, a bean stew cooked slowly in a classic terracotta pot over a low flame.

Season

The harvest takes place at the end of September or the end of October for the late-ripening Cocò varieties