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Traditions & customs

Hundreds of varieties of beans, lentils, peas and other pulses are the basis of rich and diverse regional cultures and traditions in European kitchens and gardens. Discover inspiring articles coming straight from different parts of the world!

Slow Beans Smilyan Meetup

Back in June, Lisa from The Global Bean Project headed to Smilyan in southern Bulgaria to attend a Slow Beans network meeting hosted by Rhodopi-Smilyan Beans Convivivium. The village of Smilyan is nestled deep in the Rhodope Mountains close to the Greek border. 820-850 meters above sea level and bisected by the swift-flowing Arda River,

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Behind the Seeds: Red and Black Beans with Omar Rodriguez (Honduras)

For our 10th episode of “Behind the Seeds,” we spoke with Omar Rodriguez at Terra Madre, last year’s Slow Food Congress in Turin. He is from Honduras and works as a coffee producer. Besides coffee, he is also passionate about beans! As he explained, in Honduras corn and beans are staple foods with black and red beans being the most commonly used varieties.

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Bean Story: Peas Are in Peace, Take a Piece

Peter wakes up one morning and decides to skip school to work in his garden. He loves being in the garden, talking to plants and learning from them. He plants pea seeds and communicates with them, learning about their ability to loosen soil and release nutrients. The garden makes Peter feel peaceful and happy, unlike the noisy streets.

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Pea balls – let’s give peas a tasty second chance!

pea balls

Have you ever made pea balls? Good old Latvian dishes are good ideas for eating peas in a tastier way. It is very important for Latvians to honor the traditions. As Latvians live according to the Solar calendar, every holiday in the year has an important ritual meaning. Just like the food that is brought

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Behind the Seeds: Promoting Biodiversity through Education with Lucas Mourão (Brazil)

As part of the 8th ‘Behind the Seeds’ interviews at Terra Madre, Slow Food’s convention in Turin last September, we interviewed Lucas Mourão from Belo Horizonte in Brazil. Lucas is the coordinator of Slow Food local community in his city, and works for Jaca Verde PANC, where he gives courses, guided tours, landscaping and consultancy on non-conventional food plants. Lucas is always looking for people that work with biodiversity!

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Big grey peas in Latvian national Christmas dish

Big grey peas zutini

Big Grey peas with bacon are a “must have” on Latvians Christmas table. When you ask a Latvian “What is the national dish of your country?”, Big grey peas with bacon is usually the first thing that comes up. Peas with bacon are both the food with which we identify ourselves as a nation, and

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