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Whipple Bean - Rancho Gordo
Whipple Bean - Rancho Gordo
Whipple Bean - Rancho Gordo

Whipple Bean


$ 6.25
Size

Free shipping on orders $50+

Description
We are excited to introduce you to this historic heirloom from the Willamette Valley that somehow manages to be light and substantial at the same time.

These have quickly become one of the staff's favorite beans. Because they are mild, they're a great canvas for however you want to prepare them.

They look very similar to the classic Cargamanto bean from Colombia and they are likely related to the Spanish Tolosana bean from the Basque region.

This delicious bean comes with a lot of mystery. We know they've adapted beautifully to the Willamette Valley in Oregon but the question is whether they were brought by pioneers in the 19th century or by an associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in the 1970s. The only references seem to be from seed companies telling one or the other story.

Cooking Suggestions

Baked beans, soups, dips, casseroles, pot beans

From the Rancho Gordo Kitchen

A bowl of Whipple beans needs nothing more than a squeeze of lime and minced white onion, or perhaps some of your favorite salsa. They are also a stellar chili bean and make an excellent, but somewhat untraditional, refried bean.

Cooking Instructions

Check beans for debris, and rinse thoroughly. In a large pot, sauté aromatic vegetables (onions, garlic, celery, carrot, etc.) in olive oil. Add beans and enough water to cover by about 2 inches. Bring to a full boil for 10 to 15 minutes. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer, using a lid to help regulate the heat, and gently cook until done, 1 to 3 hours. Salt when the beans start to soften. A pre-soak of 2 to 6 hours will lessen the cooking time.

Similar to

Cranberry, Good Mother Stallard, Eye of the Goat, Pinto

Latin name

Phaseolus vulgaris

Country of origin

USA

"And yes, the beans really are better—and different—than the dusty bag you'll find on the shelves of most supermarkets."

Margaret Eby

Food + Wine Magazine

Whipple Bean

$ 6.25
Shipping Details

Free Shipping on each order $50 and over

FedEx Ground shipments, and one shipping location per order.

For orders less than $50: 
Our flat-fee shipping charges via FedEx Ground is $11 (regardless of weight)
One pound or One Thousand pounds, it's the same price. 

Our flat-fee shipping charge via US Postal Service is as follows:
$11 each 15 pounds
All shipments to Hawaii, Alaska, P.O. boxes, and APO/FPO/DPO addresses must go via USPS.

I just placed my order. When will I get my shipment?

It normally takes us 1 to 3 business days to process orders. If we are experiencing further shipping delays, we will add a note to the checkout page with further information.

We process and ship orders from Northern California Monday through Friday, via FedEx or US Postal Service. A shipment can take from 2 to 5 working days to be delivered after it leaves our warehouse, depending on where you live and what shipping service you selected. Please call us (707/259-1935) to arrange for faster shipping if you need your order to arrive sooner. 

Express Shipping?

Please call us (707/259-1935) to arrange for faster shipping if you need your order to arrive sooner. 

The Rancho Gordo Story

You Can Blame it All on the Dutch

I was shopping one August for tomatoes and, despite Napa being one of the world's most magnificent agricultural regions, all the tomatoes were from a hothouse in Holland! Worse, they were hard and pale pink instead of the ripe tomatoes I was craving. I started to grow my own tomatoes and this eventually led to beans.

My first harvested heirloom bean was Rio Zape. They were pretty and easy to grow but I had no idea what to expect when I cooked them. They were similar to the pintos I liked but there was so much more going on. Hints of chocolate and coffee mixed with an earthy texture made my head spin. I was blown away by Rio Zape and the other heirloom beans I was growing, but also really confused why they were such a big secret. I took the beans to the farmers market, organizing things on my kitchen table. Soon there was a warehouse, followed by more markets and mail order. It seems we had struck a nerve. People agreed that heirloom beans were worth saving, growing and cooking. Currently our warehouse, a retail shop, and offices are in Napa, California, and a stop here is part of many tours of the wine country. 

All of my agricultural pursuits have been based on being someone who likes to cook but gets frustrated by the lack of ingredients, especially those that are native to the Americas. One of the things that originally drew me to beans was the fact that they are indigenous to the Americas. It seems to me these indigenous ingredients should be familiar, if not common. American cuisine is re-inventing itself and I'd love to include ingredients, traditions and recipes from north and south of the border as part of the equation. I love the concept of The Americas. I feel as if it's just as important as the European heritage many of us share.

You can read more about the Rancho Gordo story here.

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