Manteiguinha (butter) Beans

Soft tasting that melts in your mouth! Perfect for salads and hummus.  These heirloom beans were brought to the Amazon By the Ford Motor Co, during the rubber boom to a town called Fordlandia. Henry Ford wanted his ex-pats to have a taste of home by planting black-eyed peas. Over time the beans acclimated to the Amazon climate and are very popular with traditional Amazonian societies. With less starch than common bean varieties, manteiguinha belongs to the cowpea category, as it does not form much broth. Although it can be consumed as a traditional bean, in Pará cuisine it is often used in salads, and vinaigrettes, especially as an accompaniment to fish and shellfish, sautéed with onion, garlic, tomato, and cilantro. Its light, smooth flavor and buttery texture give it its name. "It melts in your mouth!" Despite being a cousin of other varieties, such as black-eyed peas, the difference is clear, starting with the size, which measures about 0.5 cm. Production is also practically exclusi