Rancho Gordo

Ayocote Negro

$ 6.25

This thick skinned bean (produced in Mexico) is beautiful and very large. It's a firm bean but goes from dense to creamy with continued cooking.

Suggestions: Pot beans, soups, salads, chili, casseroles

Ayocotes are runner beans (like the more well-known Scarlet Runners). Ayocote Negro are firm without being starchy and have a darker, inky bean broth than other runner beans enjoy. They are large, bold and one of the first beans we recommend if you're trying to sell a "steak and potatoes"-type on heirloom beans.

For some reason, Ayocote beans fell out of favor with many Mexicans except in specific indigenous communities. They were an important pre-conquest crop, they are beautiful and they've got a supreme meaty goodness about them that's hard to resist. I see them in the markets but I can't remember ever having been served Ayocotes of any color in Mexico. It's a shame!

Nothing makes me roll my eyes like hearing our customers say, "They look too pretty to eat!" but I do understand perhaps buying Ayocote Negro just for their incredible looks. Just don't tell anyone.

Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, the Ayocote family was one of the first cultivated crops of the New World. They are grown all over central and northern Mexico. If you plant them, you can enjoy the flowers, eat the pods as a broad bean or shell them fresh for shelling beans, but the best way to enjoy them is dried and cooked, so you can experience their fully developed flavor.

Please note that this is not a traditional black turtle bean. When cooked, it's very similar to the Ayocote Morado or even Scarlet Runners. For a traditional turtle bean, we suggest our Midnight Black beans.

Latin name: Phaseolus coccineus

THE RANCHO GORDO-XOXOC PROJECT
These items are the results of our two companies working together to help small farmers and producers continue to grow their indigenous products in Mexico, despite international trade policies that seem to discourage genetic diversity and local food traditions. More information.

Product of Mexico. Produced in Mexico under the supervision of the Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc Project.

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