In Rome, lentils are often tossed with butter or olive oil, parsley and black pepper, mixed into a soffritto, or made into in a delicious, steamy braise It was red lentils that were found preserved near Jarmo in Iraq, dating back to the sixth or seventh century BC. Red was also the colour of the lentils that Xin Zhui (Lady Dai), the wife of Li Cang, the Marquis of Dai, took to her tomb in 163BC. They were excavated in 1972, along with 1,000 precious artefacts and Xin’s body, miraculously preserved by an unknown liquid and 20 layers of clothing bound with silk ribbons. Less well-preserved were the carbonised remains of lentils found in Greece dating back to 11BC. The Greeks taught the Romans to eat lentils, and then the Romans marched them all over – although maybe not as far as Britain. The first mention I can find of lentils among my books is in 1956 in The Constance Spry Cookery book, where she gives recipes for soup, puree and a perky-sounding lentil salad with pickled onions, French dressing and celery. All this is to say, lentils, the oldest pulse and one of the earliest domesticated crops, have been nourishing us for a very long time. Continue reading...
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