Baby Yellow French beans are a member of the Fabaceae family along with the common bean, pulses and peas. They are specifically bred and cultivated for their pods versus their seeds. This designates them as a fresh picking bean versus a canning bean or a bean grown for dry use as a legume. There are several types of French bean varieties and they can be found in colors of green, yellow and purple. Baby Yellow French beans are also known as Haricot Jaune.

The baby Yellow French bean is a bean unmatched in flavor and tenderness. It is harvested at lengths no longer than approximately three inches, an age at which the beans have just begun growing. Their stringless seamed shell is a pale lemon lime color with a translucent yellow succulent flesh bearing a handful of tiny and tender yellow seeds. Overall, the baby Yellow French beans are faintly grassy, crunchy and sweet.

Geography/History

The French bean is French in its given name more than its origins. French beans' ancestors are native to South and Central Americas. It was not until the late 16th century that green beans were introduced to France via the Conquistadors. It would remain a low profile vegetable among common agrarians though until the 19th century. It was during this period that the French made a little known bean a household vegetable, the name Haricot Verts ultimately branding the bean as French indefinitely. Yet, there is little difference, botanically between a French bean and a "common" green bean, though sub varieties and improved cultivars continue to be developed. In fact, the first stringless green bean was developed in New York State by Calvin Keeney in 1894.

Seasons/Availability

Baby Yellow French beans are available at farmers markets in late spring and early summer.