Pinto Bean

The pinto bean is a variety of the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, called frijoles pintos in Spanish, its name coming from a Latin root meaning painted or colored, a reference to its mottled skin, similar in pattern to a pinto horse. It is the most widely grown bean by crop production in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, and is also prominent in Brazilian and Spanish cooking; it may be served whole in broth or mashed and fried, commonly filling burritos, tostadas and tacos in Mexican cuisine or served as a side dish in New Mexican cooking. Regional names vary, poroto frutilla, or strawberry bean, in South America, feijao carioca in Brazil, and feijao catarino in Portugal, and named cultivars include Burke, Hidatsa and Othello along with Spain's Basque alubia pinta alavesa.