Sorana, Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)
Italy

In 2014, Brian Campbell of Uprising Seeds asked Lane Selman, founder of the Culinary Breeding Network, to try to find and bring back the elusive 'Sorana' bean during a trip to Italy. This delicious creamy thin-skinned bean has the Italian Presidia designation and are grown in small plots on a few hectares along the Pescia River in the Tuscan region. Luckily, Lane found these beans at a Slow Food shop in Pistoia, Italy, and the bean has proved to be well adapted for our region. It is one of the earliest of the numerous dry beans Uprising Seeds offers, which is quite unusual for a pole type. Sorana is also referred to as 'Marcella' by Rancho Gordo bean company, named for Italian cookbook writer Marcella Hazen.