A journal about forgotten legumes, the farmers who grow them, and the cooks around the world who transform them into something extraordinary.
Read the journalSphera is a journal and, soon, a shop. We source rare Italian legumes — varieties that have survived for centuries in remote valleys and hilltop villages — and we explore what the world's cooks can do with them.
This is not about Italian cuisine being the best in the world. It's about extraordinary raw ingredients meeting curious hands. A Sicilian white bean finding its way into a Moroccan harira. A Umbrian lentil in a Japanese dashi.
In the hills of the Pratomagno, a family of three has been growing the same variety of bean since the 1600s. The Fagiolo Zolfino — named for its sulphur-yellow skin — is one of Italy's most prized legumes. This is its story, and theirs.
Read the storyThe Marchigiana cicerchia — a flat, rustic legume — holds its texture under long, slow braises. Which makes it ideal for saltah, Yemen's national dish built on a foundation of deeply spiced broth.
February 2026There are fewer than five farmers in Italy who still grow Roveja, an ancient grey-green legume that predates Rome. We spent two days with the oldest of them.
January 2026Lenticchia di Castelluccio IGP is the only Italian lentil that requires no soaking and cooks in under 20 minutes. We tested it in dashi. The result was unexpected and very good.
December 2025Michelin-starred chefs across Europe are quietly building menus around legumes. We spoke to four of them about what the shift means, and what ingredients they're reaching for.
November 2025At 3–4mm, the Fagiolina is smaller than a peppercorn. It grows on the shores of Lake Trasimeno, harvested entirely by hand. Its flavour is delicate, sweet, almost floral.
October 2025The Fagiolo di Lamon IGP has a paper-thin skin and an almost buttery interior. We cooked it into an Egusi stew with melon seeds and palm oil. It held up beautifully.
September 2025"An ingredient grown in the Apennines for four centuries has no nationality. It belongs to whoever cooks it with care."
We started Sphera because we believed rare Italian legumes deserved a better story — not a story about Italian pride, but about the extraordinary raw material that generations of small farmers have preserved.
The shop is coming. The journal is here now. Write to us if you're a grower, a cook, or simply someone who cares about what disappears when a seed variety goes extinct.