Catching a Rainbow

The Coco de Paimpol is a semi-dry white bean grown in the Tregor-Goëlo area of the Cotes d’Armor region of Brittany in North West France.
The name Paimpol comes from the port of the same name where it is believed the beans were first imported from South America in the 1920’s. (3° 02' 43" W 48° 46' 43" N)
The beans are now a staple of the Breton diet and their harvest between July and October is eagerly awaited. The Coco is a fragile crop, which has to be harvested by hand and cannot be undertaken when it is raining as the excess water causes the pods to rot.
The Coco Pluckers, as they are called, descend on this region for the harvest and can be seen ‘plucking’ the crop, seated, in small groups, very often under the shade of a parasol. The same families return year after year to bring in the harvest, selecting the best pods and renew acquaintances with old friends. A good plucker can pick anything up to 150Kg of beans a day. To celebrate the new harvest a large fete is organised in August every year with competitions to find the best plucker of the year.
The mature Coco bean is often overlooked by the British visitor as the pod has an unappetising dried up appearance and the yellow skin marbled with red and violet can give the impression that the bean is rotten. In fact in any lot of Coco-beans one will always find slightly better looking pale green examples, which are in fact under ripe and will not have the wonderful chestnut flavour that develops in mature examples.
They are easy to cook, once de-shelled; requiring much less time than other dried varieties of bean and require no pre-soaking. About 35 minutes in boiling salted water is usually enough, any longer and the beans begin to lose their form and become ‘mushy’. They are great in soups and casseroles where they keep their form over prolonged cooking periods
The beans are rich in fibre and Vitamins B5 and B1. They are a good source of Iron and essential oils.

The Coco de Paimpol was the first vegetable in France to receive the much acclaimed
Appellations d'origine contrôlée. The origins of AOC date back to the 15th century but the Law for the Protection of the Place of Origin the first modern law was passed in 1919.This law was to specify the region and commune that any given product must be manufactured in. Its remit was later broadened to also including setting down how certain products could be produced. In 1935, the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO), a branch of the French Ministry of Agriculture, was created to manage the administration of the process for wines.
In 1990, the scope of work of the INAO was extended beyond wines to cover other agricultural products, including the famous Coco de Paimpol.

References and acknowledgemets.
Institut National des Appellations d'Origine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appellation_d%27Origine_Contr%C3%B4l%C3%A9e


The Coco de Paimpol
http://www.prince-de-bretagne.com/presse/dossiers-presse/pdf/dossier-presse-coco-paimpol-07-2005.pdf

More information (French)
http://carnetsdebord.over-blog.net/article-3467148.html