**HEIRLOOM**

On a brisk Fall evening in November we shared a meal with friends that we have since learned is fit for nobility! A small pot of simmering Flageolet beans, a sprinkling of sage and salt, and a generous helping of good olive oil topped with freshly picked and sautéed chanterelles, crispy French shallots, and a squeeze of lemon heaped on a warmed Bread Farm baguette. *Sigh* The perfect sensory end to a busy harvest season. The Flageolet, a close relative of the Hungarian rice bean, which was grown on private estates to feed the European nobility during the winter months, was introduced for the International Paris Exposition in 1878 by French gardener, Chevrier of Bretigny. The shelled beans can be eaten (and celebrated!) in their semi dry stage as a shelly bean, and when they are fully dry. Reserved, as William Woys Weaver so aptly states, for elegant, light and sophisticated cooking (think cassoulet, risotto...), flageolets are intensely creamy, hold their shape when cooked, and cook quickly. The plants themselves are compact and loaded with slender long green beans (8-10 seeds/pod) that remain a light green when fully dry as do the seeds themselves. As you may have sensed from my exuberant and lengthy description, these beans are a celebration unto themselves.

75-80 days.

 Packet: 1oz (~120 seeds), additional bulk sizes.

 UO