Description
The Mogette de Vendée PGI is a white bean, from the haricot bean type and the Phaseolus vulgaris L. species. They can be dry, frozen semi-dry or cooked and conserved.
Production Area
The production area of Mogette de Vendée PGI covers different municipal areas in the departments of Atlantic Loire and Vendée, in region Pays de la Loire.
Production Method
The sowing starts within May 10th - the period when the ground is ready to host the seeds - and continues until maximum June 20th. Harvesting takes place in August-September depending on both the planting date and the opinion of farmers, who have to decide the ideal period to start harvesting. Therefore, the plants are uprooted and those for the dry product have to dry in the field to favour the later beating phase, which takes place when the majority of leaves have yellowed. The extraction of seeds for the semi-dry products takes place immediately. The beans obtained are cleaned and selected in order to eliminate impurities, and then stored. Other working phases before packaging can include also processes of freezing, sterilisation and pasteurisation.
Appearance and Flavour
Mogette de Vendée PGI is large and kidney-shaped, 1-2 cm long, and white in colour. When semi-dry, the colour is white-light green with a smooth and shiny epicarp. When dry, the humidity level amounts to 10-16%. After cooking, the beans have a compact but soft consistency, only a little granular, whilst the taste is well-balanced between sweet and salted, with hints of chestnut and leek.
History
The mogette bean has grown in Vendée since the 16th century and is still today one of the most important products in the area. Many written documents confirm that in the 19th and 20th centuries this bean covered the majority of lands and was the basis of the local farmers' food; therefore, it was called "the heritage of the poor tenant farmer". Plus, it seems that the amounts produced were so high to allow export already in the early 1930s.
Gastronomy
Mogette de Vendée PGI, when dry, has to be stored in a cool and dry place, whilst if cooked and conserved, once opened the pot, it is advised put it in refrigerator. Depending on the type, it needs or not to be cooked before consumption. They can be combined both with fish (very good with cod, shrimps or oysters) and meat (to taste with lamb cutlets), but they can be used also to prepare flavourful potages and soups.
Marketing
The product is sold as Mogette de Vendée PGI. When dry, they are sold in bags, boxes or nets with a variable weight (from 500 gr to 1 kg and more); when frozen semi-dry, in bags or other packaging of 1 kg and more; when natural cooked and sterilised, in pots; when natural cooked and pasteurised, in filtered bags or trays of different weights. The sale of the loose product is forbidden.
Distinctive Features
The most important phase to obtain Mogette de Vendée PGI is surely harvesting - only the experience and skill of farmers allow deciding the right moment to harvest beans in order to enhance the organoleptic features of the final product in the best way.
