Rancho Gordo Beans!

Maybe you have heard of Steve Sando, or maybe you haven’t.  Steve started Rancho Gordo in 2001 and has since skyrocketed to success.  As the story goes, he was selling his beans at a farmers market in Napa when one of Thomas Keller’s cooks bought his beans and brought them back to the kitchen… the rest is history.  If you haven’t heard of or tasted these lovely legumes, you are in for a treat.  We have ordered the beans featured below, plus a few more to try.  They should arrive in a few weeks, so give us a call to talk about which one is the best fit for you.

What makes a good bean?  Much of what we, here at Great Ciao, value in a bean has been echoed in Steve Sando’s writings.  The quality of a bean is decided by many things, from the soil to the season, and one of the most important determining factors is the amount of time between harvest and consumption.  The shorter the time the better the product shows its attributes.  The closer you are to harvest the better the bean.  The consistency of the beans cooking time, the consistency of the beans texture and the brightness of their flavor all benefit by consuming them soon after the season.

We can be fairly certain that Rancho Gordo beans are not more than a year old, because he sells out every year!