Few refined palates knew Controne before Slow Food talked about its tasty bean. We are talking about a small Campania village with just under 800 inhabitants in the province of Salerno, inserted in the splendid setting of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park.
Many had visited it to go rafting and canoeing on the Calore but with the Slow Food Presidium, Controne has become famous for the cultivation of a bean - precisely the Controne white bean - and for the related taste experiences.
It is said that this bean probably predates the discovery of America due to its small and rounded shape. It has a fine skin, and therefore a high digestibility, does not need long soaking and has a short cooking time of about one hour.
Like many beans of ancient tradition, also the white Controne bean is a product difficult make and grows only at water sources.
The typical dish of Controne is "beans with sagne", also widely used in southern Lazio and central Italy. I used these beans to make a cream.
Controne bean cream recipe with fragrant oats and smoked bacon chips
You start by soaking the fragrant oats for a couple of hours and then moving on to the beans.
In a pan, prepare a sauce of garlic, oil, a little chilli and a bay leaf. We will remove the bay leaf along with the garlic when the sauce is golden.
Add the beans and let them absorb the flavour, then add some hot water or a vegetable broth. Let it boil and start cooking the beans.
At this point we add the fragrant oats and when this is cooked the soup is ready and we are ready to turn it into a cream.
Separately, prepare the bacon chips by cutting it into small slices that are cooked in a fat-free pan until it becomes crunchy. The chips will then be put on the soup with a round of extra virgin olive oil.
For the glass to accompany we remain in Campania, with a late harvest Falanghina or a white Furore.
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