2 shallots, chopped
1 butter
12 oz whole green lentils (le puy)
1 handful of chopped lovage
1 sprig of thyme
1 curl of orange peel
1 light stock or water
Directions
Soften the chopped shallots in a little butter without colouring
them. Stir in the lentils. Add a handful of chopped lovage, the
sprig of thyme, orange peel and stock or unsalted water to cover
well. Simmer until tender. Drain off and reduce the cooking liquor to
make a little sauce, enriching it with more butter and seasoning to
taste. In the absence of lovage, use the young leaves and tenderest
parts of a celery heart, and season the dish with a pinch each of
celery salt, lemon zest and powdered curry spices.
Source: Philippa Davenport in "Country Living" (British), November
1988. Typed for you by Karen Mintzias
Servings: 4 servings
Lentils With Lovage Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bean; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to follow the history of written cooking instructions back into distant history, at least as far back into history as the ancient Egyptians, and quite possibly further than that. However, in the main part, these ancient recipes were just very basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for food preparation.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to academics are a few tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who tried it feel wonderful and blissful. Continuing our culinary historical journey, we find some interesting books which were published in the fourteenth century ; a cookery book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary entitled `Curye on Inglish`. Don`t be fooled by the titles though, these two books are not about the curry that appears on menues today, but instead recipes for the types of food served to the rich people of the time. Over the succeeding few hundred years, the powerful and wealthy houses strove to offer the most extravagent meals, and consequentially the best chefs and their recipe collections were much in demand. Notwithstanding that, it was during the nineteenth century that formal cookery and recipe publications became popular. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to collecting, verifying, and recording recipes common in their social group. When we get to the twentieth century, cook books are greatly in demand mostly as a result of better eduction, people having increased leisure time and having more disposable income. The TV revolution gave us TV chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing us all to search through massive numbers of recipes such as those found on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Lentils With Lovage recipe.
