I have a huge weakness for old cookbooks: no matter how many I already have or how many they stare at me from the shelf waiting to be read, I always look for and want more. That's why when I came across a paperback copy of Your Kitchen in a used bookstore, I couldn't resist. Encyclopedia of Gastronomy (1964). The book is an adaptation by Juan Cabané of La vraie Cuisine française (1963) by the French author and food journalist Robert J. Courtine, who previously signed his works under the pseudonym “Savarin”, hence this name appears on the cover of the book Book Book.
Cabané's work offers a tour through various recipes, historical references, anecdotes and descriptions of typical dishes of French, but also Spanish and Latin American cuisine, accompanied by illustrations and humor: a gem.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 the editor states in the book itself, along with other works that would be worth reading today, such as: E.g. “Your Married Life”. Healthy sex life, your social life. Encyclopedia of Modern Politeness or Your Work. Encyclopedia of Women's Work.
Editorial observations aside, and getting to what's really important to us here, one recipe from this book in particular caught my attention: Roman-style lentils. It says: “They are cooked in rainwater with pepper and cumin until they are three quarters cooked. Finally, they are braised in water flavored with vinegar, mint, parsley, saffron and sage. Recipe from Dix livres de l'Honneste voluptè, 1567″. As with most recipes in the book, the amount of ingredients and cooking time is at the discretion of the person making it, so I'll leave my interpretation here.
Regarding what the recipe specifically calls for, we make two changes. The first and most obvious point is that we do not use rainwater to cook our lentils; Since we don't live in the 16th century, we will take advantage of the great privilege of having drinking water from our kitchen tap. The second modification is the addition of some artichokes at the end – we can easily prepare them in the microwave as we explain in this video – which complete the dish and combine very well with the aromatic herbs that we will associate as a whole Bouquet garni. If you come to this recipe when artichokes are not in season, you can add some canned ones.
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Clean artichokes
Ingredients
For 4 people
- 300g lentils, preferably Pardinas
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 sprigs fresh mint + a little more to decorate
- 3 sprigs fresh parsley + a little more to decorate
- 1 sprig of fresh sage
- 6 threads of saffron
- 40 ml sherry vinegar
- 5 artichokes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
instructions
1.
Place the lentils in a large pot and add 1.5 liters cold water, black pepper, cumin and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Add water if necessary.
2.
Taste the lentils as they cook. When tender but not fully cooked (about 20 minutes), add the fresh mint, parsley and sage in a bunch tied with thread, suitable for cooking as a bouquet garni. Also add the vinegar and saffron and continue cooking over low heat until desired point is reached.
3.
Meanwhile, prepare the artichokes in the microwave as shown in the video above (or peel the artichokes and remove the tops, cook them in boiling salted water). Peel and cut them to get just the hearts. Fry in a pan with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
4.
Serve the lentils and place the artichokes on top. Finally, add freshly chopped mint and parsley and an additional drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
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