I have a big weakness for old cookbooks: no matter how many I already have, or how they are staring at me from the shelf waiting to be read, I always look for and want more. That's why I couldn't resist when I came across a paperback edition of Your kitchen. Encyclopedia of Gastronomy (1964). The book is an adaptation made by Juan Cabane of La vraie cuisine française (1963) by the French author and food journalist Robert J. Courtinewho used to sign his works under the pseudonym “Savarin”, hence this name appears on the cover of the book.
Cabané's work offers a tour of different recipes, historical references, anecdotes and descriptions of typical dishes of French cuisine, but also of Spanish and Latin American cuisine, accompanied by illustrations and humor: a gem. It is part of “the most complete collection of encyclopedias of practical life” as stated by the publisher in the book itself, along with other works that would be worth reviewing today such as Your married life. healthy sex life, Your social life. Encyclopedia of modern courtesy either Your tasks. Encyclopedia of women's work.
Editorial observations aside and going to what really matters to us here, one recipe from this book especially caught my attention: Roman-style lentils. It reads: “they are cooked in rainwater, with pepper and cumin, until they are three-quarters cooked. And it ends by braising them in water flavored with vinegar, mint, parsley, saffron and sage. Recipe of Dix livres de l'Honneste voluptè, 1567″. As with most of the recipes in the book, the quantities of the ingredients and the cooking times are at the discretion of the person who executes it, so here I leave my interpretation.
Regarding what the recipe does explicitly mandate, we make two modifications. The first and obvious one is that we will not use rainwater to cook our lentils; Since we do not live in the 16th century, we will make use of the great privilege of having drinking water coming from our kitchen tap. The second modification is the addition of some artichokes at the end – we can prepare them very easily in the microwave, as we explain in this video -, which complete the dish and combine very well with the aromatic herbs, which we will tie as a bouquet garni. If you come to this recipe when artichokes are not in season, you can add some canned ones.
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Cleaning the artichokes
Ingredients
For 4 people
- 300 g lentils, preferably pardinas
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon cumin grains
- 2 sprigs of fresh mint + extra to decorate
- 3 sprigs of fresh parsley + extra to decorate
- 1 sprig of fresh sage
- 6 threads of saffron
- 40 ml sherry vinegar
- 5 artichokes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
Instructions
Put the lentils in a large pot and add 1.5 liters of cold water, the black pepper, cumin and salt. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to low. Add water if necessary.
Taste the lentils as they cook. When they are tender but not completely cooked – approximately 20 minutes –, add the fresh mint, parsley and sage in a bouquet tied with kitchen-grade thread as a bouquet garni. Also add the vinegar and saffron and continue cooking over low heat until they are at the desired point.
Meanwhile, prepare the artichokes in the microwave as indicated in the video mentioned above (or peel the artichokes and discard the tips, cook in boiling salted water). Peel and cut to obtain only the hearts. Brown in a frying pan with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Serve the lentils and place the artichokes on top. Finish with fresh chopped mint and parsley and an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
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