The Matte Bean is a Traditional Agricultural Product (PAT) on the national list approved by the Ministry of Agriculture And Forestry, whose requirements are regulated by the production discipline of the Tuscany Region.

Features

The plant looks like a fairly vigorous climber at scalar ripening.
The pod is curved in green color and, when ripening, the coloring becomes creamy-white; The size of the pod is about 10 cm long and 1 cm wide.
The seed, small (1 cm x 0.8 cm), has a slightly oval round shape, half white and half red dark wine.

The bean is used dry grainy.

Cultivation

The preparation of the soil involves a slight ploughing (25-30 cm) followed by a hercupic through which the fertilizer is administered, usually organic.
The planting takes place in May with plant sests ranging from 20-30 cm on the row and 1-1.5 meters between the rows.
Irrigations are carried out consistently but not excessively.

The harvest is carried out by hand from the beginning of July until September; The product is harvested as it matures.
The bean is discreetly productive and you can collect about 20 q.li/ha of fresh product.

The bean, which is also mentioned in Carlo De Stefani’s text “Agricultural Monograph on the Castelnuovo Garfagnana District” of 1883, has always been one of the most characteristic products of Garfagnana.
It has always been cultivated throughout the valley, perhaps coming from the area of Casciana and Gramolazzo to establish itself today in the countries near the capital.

The Matte is a very delicate bean, of fine skin and slightly doughy paste.
The distinctive feature of the bean is that the cooking broth has an intense aromatic flavor similar to the meat broth.

It is used for the past and excellent results in the spelt soup in which the density of the broth emerges; great when paired with a bit spicy new oil.
Another typical dish is the “broken bean” : it is normally boiled in a pot of crock for about 20 minutes and then complete the baking for 10-15 minutes with new oil; the bean “bursts” in the sense that it opens and you can taste it.