Pot Luck Beans of America Selection
Pot Luck Beans of America Selection
Can't choose from the amazing selection...
From £84.40 GBP
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Mottled, soft‑skinned Pinto beans from northern Mexico, known for their velvety finish and talent for carrying spices, herbs and roasted flavours. The Heirloom Bean Co sources these Phaseolus beans from Mexican bean and authentic food specialist La Comandanta, working to revitalise traditional Mexican agriculture by preventing the loss of native seeds, as well as ancestral cooking and cultivation processes. |
Pinto beans take their name from the Spanish for “painted,” a reference to their speckled skins. Grown across northern Mexico’s dry plains, they cook down to a plush, almost whipped texture. Their mild flavour makes them ideal for absorbing roasted aromatics, dried chillies, citrus, herbs and slow‑cooked vegetables without losing their identity.
Working with La Comandanta
The Heirloom Bean Co has forged a new partnership with Mexico City’s La Comandanta, a business working to identify, rescue and promote authentic Mexican foods grown and made by rural producers using traditional farming and culinary methods. Through this partnership The Heirloom Bean Company is now fairly trading heirloom beans grown by smallholder farmers and processed and packed in Mexico.
La Comandanta’s motto Cocina una Revolución ("Cook a Revolution") describes their ethos that eating authentic food is an act of cultural and agricultural resistance to mainstream agrifood corporations. They’re committed to fair and transparent trade, and supporting social and economic development.
A key concern is the seed diversity and agricultural heritage of Mexico, with Bolivia one of two centres of genetic diversity of the Phaseolus bean species. La Comandanta aims to revive traditional Mexican farming and save heirloom varieties from extinction. Many farmers have stopped growing these varieties for lack of access to fair markets and fear of crop failure. To encourage and support them La Comandanta pays a fair price for crops and offers advance loans at the time of sowing.
The Heirloom Bean Co has visited many of the farmers growing beans to understand the challenges they face and pays an additional 15% premium over the farmgate price into a fund to cover the loans in case of any crop failure. As beans fall outside the usual commodities covered by fair trade labelling schemes the Heirloom Bean Co has introduced its own Fairly Traded emblem to communicate their partnership of trading fairly.
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Kitchen Suggestions
Try them folded into roasted tomato, ancho chilli and oregano for a deep, brick‑red base, or mixed with charred spring onions, coriander stems and a squeeze of lime for something brighter. They’re also excellent mashed with rosemary, garlic and olive oil, or tossed with grilled peppers, courgettes and smoked chilli for a warm, summery plate. For something simpler, serve these wonderful Pintos with lemon zest, parsley and cracked pepper to show off their velvety texture.
Cooking these beans
Look over the beans to remove any stray bits, then rinse well. In a heavy pot, gently cook your base vegetables - onion, garlic, celery, carrot - in a little olive oil until fragrant. Add the beans and pour in enough water to cover them by roughly 5 cm. Bring to a strong boil for 10–15 minutes. Lower the heat to maintain a slow, steady simmer, partially covering the pot to keep the temperature even, and cook until the beans are fully tender, usually 1–3 hours. Add salt once the beans begin to soften. A short soak of 2–6 hours will help reduce the total cooking time.
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Ingredients
Pinto Beans
Further info
Tasting notes: A classy, smooth pinto with just a hint of nuttiness
Similar to: Cranberry, Flor de Mayo
Latin name: Phaseolus vulgaris
Country of origin: Mexico
Sold in resealable 500g bags
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Typical values Per 100g Energy 1333kJ (316kcal) Fat 1.2g of which saturates 0.2g Carbohydrate 47g of which sugars 2.1g Fibre 16g Protein 21g Salt 0.03g
