Ayocote bean ✦

Haricot ayocote

What it is

Phaseolus coccineus is a different species from the common bean — perennial, regrowing each year from a starchy root — and Europe kept it for two centuries as a garden climber, grown for its scarlet flowers rather than its seed. In Mexico the pot liquor counts as much as the bean: ayocotes are ladled out in their own dark broth as a course, not a side.

In the kitchen

Hold the pot below a simmer for two to three hours — a rolling boil bursts these skins long before the chestnut-textured centre gives way. Never drain them; that broth is the sauce.

Goes with

Epazote Avocado leaf Ancho chilli Mexican oregano Lard Onion Nopal Tomato

Same species

Black bean Borlotti bean Cannellini bean Coco de Paimpol Faba asturiana Flageolet

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