This bean ecotype flourishes in the extremely favorable microclimate a few kilometers from Potenza, around Lake Pantano di Pignola. A large basin, surrounded by the Maddalena mountains, which are over 1,000 meters high, forms a kind of natural amphitheater. Temperatures in July, August and September never exceed 30°C, while the relative humidity is around 70%. The soil is also perfect for growing beans, well drained and highly productive due to its clayey-silty composition. The climbing plant produces a round, ovoid seed, beige in color with the dark red streaks that give it its name. After the Second World War, bean growing was replaced by livestock farming and young people gradually abandoned the countryside and went to work in the cities or the chemical industry that developed in the area.
Season
The harvest runs from around the first week of September to the beginning of October
Back to the archive >Thanks to the recent studies and its inclusion in the register of traditional products, the bean is slowly starting to be cultivated again. The traditional crop had been abandoned as a result of migrations away from the countryside and changing food habits, and for years was only grown in small family plots.
Production area
Altitudes over 600 meters above sea level, Pignola municipality and some parts of the Abriola municipality, Potenza province
Presidium supported by
“Alliance between chefs and Slow Food Presidia 2012” project
Giovanni Bianconi
Contrada Petrucco, 12
Pignola (Pz)
Tel. +39 328 1660719
giovannibianconi@tiscali.it
Mariangela Faraldo
Via Nuvolese, 176
Tito (Pz)
Tel. 347 1496035
faraldo.mariangela@libero.it
Alessandra Ferretti
Contrada Pantano, 54
Pignola (Pz)
Tel. +39 335 8353359
aziendaferretti@hotmail.com
Enza Rosa
Contrada Pantano
Pignola (Pz)
Tel. +39 333 7822449
enzarosa56@gmail.com
Luigi Ferretti
Tel. +39 335 835 3359
archferretti@hotmail.it
Slow Food Presidium Coordinator
Laura Mongiello
Tel. 393 3735794
laura.mong@libero.it
