As is well known, pulses were introduced into Europe after the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. In the Pescia area they found the perfect location thanks to the reclaiming of the land ordered by the Medici family and the Leopoldian grand dukes which "stole" small islands of land in an area with a great deal of waterways. As has happened with other typical products over the centuries, the precious pulse has proved to be a fundamental resource for the nutritional subsistence of the local populations, a real and proper fortune. The world wars of the last century put the survival of the population in danger, leading to the depopulation of the area and the consequent emigration towards the Arno plain where it was less difficult to find work. At the beginning of the nineteen-eighties, this bean was cultivated in this corner of Tuscany by just one producer, who told the secrets of his art when the farmers came back to the There are no lack of famous names who have been taken in by the Sorana beans, amongst whom Gioacchino Rossini who asked for payment in beans for correcting some scores by the composer Natale Nardi of Pescia; Edmondo de Amicis who refers to having seen them on sale in the market in Constantinople in his cronacles from the Orient; Giuseppe Verdi who sang their praises on several occasions; the fado singer Amalia Rodriguez, who wanted to visit the places where the beans which were so dear to King Leopold of Portugal were born; and Indro Montanelli who lavished compliments upon them in the columns of the Corners newspaper. So much attention and such quality have recently permitted the Sorana bean to be awarded the IGP, Indication of Protected Origin. To pay homage to this gastronomic jewel, every year in Sorana a festival is organised for the second weekend in September.