The Sentimental Lentil Episode

This diminutive legume plays a giant role in the history of agriculture. Anney and Lauren explore the science and history of lentils.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of I Heart Radio.
I'm any Reason and I'm Lauren vocal Bum and today
we have an episode for you about lentils. Yes, I
love lentils. I love lentils me too, absolutely, I love
them in any number of applications. Yes, yes, yes, I
love lentil soup. I But also I have a very

(00:31):
fond memory of the first time I had doll. Um,
the first time I really remember having doll, And it
was when I was in Australia and we were a
couple of us, a group of us were living in
kind of a remote place and it was cold at
night and we would cook these meals together. And the
first meal we cooked together was from somebody who was
there and he made doll Oh so good, Oh home

(00:56):
made doll too well. Um, yeah, I remember the first
time I had it as well, because I I hadn't
been exposed to any Indian cuisine until I moved to Atlanta,
where we're very lucky to have a number of amazing, amazing,
amazing um Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants and uh yeah yeah.

(01:18):
So I was just like, what is this and how
like if I never had this before same, I was
kind of like, what this is amazing, right, like so
simple but so like hardy and just warming and oh yeah, yes, yes,
es yes uh. And then, as I've mentioned before in
the show, my my little brother is vegetarian um, and

(01:41):
we often make things when he's around, like Lintel Bogner
sauce with spaghetti um, Lintel Chili vegetarian burgers, and they're
all share very very good. Yes. And you can see
our cous Cousse episode for my own personal battle of

(02:02):
lentils versus couscus as a side that's at a very
well known Dragon Con restaurant every year. I'm like, oh,
which one? Which one? But you can hear more details
about it in Yeah, yeah, I see this this. You
could you could order them both and they would probably

(02:23):
serve them to you. I'm sure they would, Lauren. But
if they give you to these huge portions, it's like
a matter of because you don't have a place to
store stuff. Yeah yeah, but yeah, it's every year. I'm like,
what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? Um?
You can also see our episodes on chickpeas and green beans,

(02:50):
And I'm trying to think what other lagoons we've done. Um,
tamarind and carab technically both count but like also are
very different. Um uh maybe tofu. I don't know. I
don't know. We've done a lot of stuff. We've we've
covered a lot of We've done a lot of stuff.
It's true, it's true. Well, I guess that breaks this questions. Yeah,

(03:19):
lentils what are they? Well, lentils are a type of lagoon. Yes,
that's a very small like a like a pinky nail,
or smaller and shaped like disks or lenses. Uh. They
can range from sort of mushy to sort of tender
to almost crunchy when they're cooked, and are just so

(03:43):
earthy and in filling. Lentils are just a very satisfying plant. Yeah.
They're like they're like that person you know who's sort
of unreasonably responsible, but like you can't even dislike them
for it because is they're also so dang affable. M hmm.

(04:03):
They're they're sort of like, um, they're sort of like
tiny boba but protein. Yes, yes, I love that. It's true.
It's like your your friend just trying to take care
of you when you're like no, I'm good and like wait, no,
they're like this is nice. Yeah, all right, you were right, okay.

(04:32):
So yes, lentils are in that lagoon family Fibassia, along
with other beans, peas, and peanuts. Botanical name Lens colinaris.
So yes, they're named the culinary lens. That's pretty good
and I love it. Lentil plants grow as these small

(04:53):
soft bushes a couple of feet in height, maybe like
half a meter um. They must be planted every year.
They have these key little uh sort of fern like
branches that end in little curly cues and um and
other branches with little white to pink to blue to
purple flowers. When they're pollinated, and they do self pollinate,
they'll develop into seed pods, little tiny bean pods that

(05:14):
may range in color from green to yellow to orange
to red. When they're mature um and usually only have
a couple seeds in them. Seeds have a thin coat
that can come and honestly pretty much any color from
a from a light tan all the way to black
and anything in between. The flesh and side will be
the same color that the pod was. Red lentils tend

(05:36):
to be on a smaller side, green to brown ones
tend to be bigger, but there's a whole bunch of
different types. Like other lagoons. Part of the reason why
lentils are cool isn't just that they are tasty and nutritious,
though they are, but because they help fix nitrogen in
the soil as they grow. And we talked about this before,

(05:57):
but but basically every living thing needs nitrogen, but lots
of nitrogen is airborne on this planet Earth, and lots
of living things cannot get it into their systems from
the air. Some plants, though, have evolved this mutually beneficial
relationship with microbes that can totally get nitrogen into their
systems from the air. The plant's roots provide the colonies

(06:20):
of microbes other nutrients, and as individual microbes in the
colony die, the plants can take up that nitrogen. H
This can help plants grown alongside lagoons, or if you
use them in rotation with other crops. Anyway, pretty cool, uh.
I've read that the pods can be eaten fresh, but
it is far more common to um to dry and

(06:41):
hold the seeds and then reconstitute eat just the seeds,
and we constitute them by cooking them in water or
other liquid or in soups or stews. Because they are
so small, lentils tend to reconstitute relatively quickly compared with
other beans, which is nice if you're like me and
you have no forethought or for planning. Um. They can
vary a little bit in flavor type to type, but

(07:04):
tend to be earthy and nutty, maybe a little peppery
or a little sweet. Uh. Some cook up real mushy
and us are good for those super stew applications. Some
cook up firmer and more like a toothsome yeah, and
thus are better for you some whole in in salads
or pull offs or casseroles or savory pies. Um. Right,

(07:26):
you can make a fritters or patties with them, also good. Yeah.
Lintels can also be processed into flower, which can be
used alone or alongside other flowers and all kinds of applications,
as as a thickener or in sweet or savory baked goods,
or to make a really nice like like earthy peppery crackers.

(07:48):
Oh my goodness, sounds so good right now, right right?
I feel like I've had a lot of lintels during
the pandemic, and it's been a lot of like comfort
food for me, especially lentil soup. Just lentil soup all
the time. I think that's why I chose this this
episode topic because I was just like, it is the

(08:10):
weather is cooling off, and I would like to just
like dip myself into lentil soup like of course, yes, uh,
well what about the nutrition? Uh not not as a bath,
but otherwise, lentils are pretty good for you. Um. They're
about protein, which is high for a vegetable, um, and

(08:35):
also a great source of fiber and various micronutrients, so
like they will help fill you up and help keep
you going. Um, paired with whole grains, You've got a
pretty complete protein profile, which is cool. I keep saying
that you've got a pretty complete protein profile. They are
low and fat, so pair with a little bit of
that too, and you know, as always eat eat a

(08:55):
vegetable as always. Uh. Savers trying to be year for you,
just like little just like lentils are trying to be
the good friend we are. We do have some numbers
for you, we do, okay. According to an MPR article,
about half of the world's lentils are consumed in India. Yes,

(09:17):
and they do import the most, around a million metric
tons per year as of and according to another source
I read, one of every five or six lentels is
grown in India and that of the about six point
three million tons of annual global lentil production, Yes, India
accounts for about one point one to one point five

(09:40):
million tons of that. Yeah, Canada and India produced the most.
Canada produces like fort in India about eight And there
is also serious lentil industry in Australia, Turkey and Nepal.
And Uh. There are some records record. Yes, there is

(10:02):
a lentil world record um uh. The Guinness record for
the largest lentil stew was set in Uruguay in um
it weighed it was, okay, it was. It was a
stew of lentils, sausage, onion, potatoes and tomatoes. And it
weighed two thousand, three hundred and sixty five kilos um

(10:25):
or about five thousand, two hundred and thirteen pounds. Okay,
it's impressive. Uh. There's also a National Lentil Festival in Pullman, Washington, US.
It's in August of every year. That general area grows

(10:45):
about a quarter of America's lentils. The festival includes a parade,
a lentil pancake breakfast um, the legendary Lentil cook off UM,
a mini golf tournament, and a pickleball tournament, among many
other activities. UM. I have to mention the festival mascot. UM.
Its name is taty t Lentil okay uh huh. And

(11:13):
it's like it's like this big lentil Okay, like like
the like the whole big lentil is just it's big face,
and the face has arms and legs coming off of it,
and and it's and it's wearing a baseball cap. Okay.

(11:34):
The image in my head, I can see it being
either terrifying, are completely hilarious, or perhaps both. It's mostly
hilarious and cute. Um. It's not nearly as terrifying as
some other mascots that we've talked about before. Oh my gosh,
we gotta do that food mascot episode one day. I

(11:57):
don't know if I have the strength you do, Lauren.
You must be brave, like I'm sure tasty lintel lose
o um okay uh. But but right, um, this is

(12:21):
not the only place in the world that honors and
respects it's lentils. In France, there's an organization called, roughly
translated UM the Green Brotherhood UM that celebrates and sometimes
throws like really impressive galas um centered around the French
Lipwi mental Uh. There's some two hundred knights in the brotherhood,

(12:46):
dudes and ladies both UM and according to the lip
we website UM, they they defend tooth and nail the
jewel of the region. I feel like we've come a
across many of these, like knighthoods or brotherhoods around food.
It does crack me up. It's serious business and it

(13:09):
is it is m m well, another thing that serious business.
A few things I read claimed that it's a traditional
thing on New Year's for some Italians New Year's even
New Year's Day to eat lentils. So it's kind of
similar in what to to what we talked about in
our Southern food traditions on New Year's And then we

(13:34):
did one also around the world that this is because
they resemble coins. Are most likely because they resemble coins.
So it's like, if you eat your lentils, you will
get to wealth in the new year. Why not? Sure, Yeah,
lentils are good, um, but listeners right in listeners from
Italy or if you've come across this tradition before, please

(13:58):
um okay. There's also a program called the International Center
for Agricultural Research for dry areas. It rolls off the tongue,
I know, but but okay. One of their goals is,
in fact, to study lentils and get them to grow
better and in more places. Makes sense? Um, And this this, this,

(14:24):
this group has a collection of about ten thousand, five
hundred different samples of genetic material from various varietals of
both wild and domesticated lentils. Dang right, they're like in
all of these are interestingly different, and I'm like, why, okay,

(14:48):
that's so cool the snow flakes of the agricultural world.
And and they are. They are popular. Global production has
more than triple old since yes, yes, es, yes, And
they have a long and storied history. Oh heck they do.
And we are going to get into that as soon

(15:10):
as we get back from a quick break forward from
our sponsor. And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you.
So lentils are old, yeah the podcast, I know. Uh yeah.

(15:34):
Lentils are like one of the first things that humans
domesticated like they were part of the agricultural revolution in
the Fertile Crescent as people transitioned from gathering plants to
growing them on purpose. Um, like right up there with
wheat and barley. Yes, yeah, old, old old. The earliest

(15:56):
archaeological evidence we know of goes back to Greece UM
thirteen thousand to nine thousand, five hundred years ago UM,
and their thought to have originated in the Mediterranean or
what is now Egypt and Turkey specifically um or both
sure that that general area? Yeah yeah um. Evidence indicates

(16:18):
that lentils were first investigated in eight thousand b C
and what is now northern Syria, that they were present
in Turkey by six thousand seven dred BC a bit later,
and six thousand b C. Lentils were recorded as food
for impoverished people in ancient Greece, though that didn't last
long because other records kind of around this time plaint

(16:40):
lentil soup, particularly as a prize dish in ancient Greece,
and that could be due to a variety of factors, um,
just taking longer to cook something like that, but still uh.
In fact ari Stefans wrote, you who dare insult lentil
soup sweetest of delicacies. But I read that is like,

(17:00):
so clearly he's into it. But he also wrote, Um,
now he is rich, he no longer cares for lentils.
So I'm like, you know, sometimes the intricacies of old
timey satire escapes me. Um, I feel I feel like
I feel like it's saying that it's like a it's
like a down to earth kind of dish, but it's
really good. I feel like that's the vibe. That's what

(17:23):
I thought too. But I'm glad you agree because I
had a moment of like, maybe I really just am
not putting picking up all these guys, but maybe he's
making a joke that I don't get. Um. This difference
in perception between lintels and little soup, though, that shows
up in the historical record a handful of times that

(17:43):
we're going to talk about. Plenty wrote about the different
varieties of lentils and believed medicinal properties of them. Records
show that the Greeks were using lentils to make bread,
among other things. Um. Ancient Romans also wrote about a
dish eaten by the poor that had lentils in it.
And the epiqueous included several recipes that used lentils in them. Yeah.

(18:07):
One that I was reading about had lentils and muscles
with honey and vinegar and like lots of spices. I
was like, oh my, Multiple and repeated archaeological finds from
Central Europe suggest that lentils were domesticated there by around
the fifth century BC, and that people were already selecting

(18:31):
them for size. Uh. And yeah, the lentil has been
a staple in the Indian diet since at least two
thousand five dred BC, and written records indicate that the
preparation of doll in that area, which a whole separate episode,
but uh goes back to at least eight hundred to
three hundred b C. And then it was like kind

(18:52):
of immediately, oh, this is good. Um. Lentil remains dating
back to two thousand, four hundred BC were found in
royal tombs at Thebes in Egypt, suggesting that they were
highly valued there. Um. And about a thousand years later
in Egyptian Fresco depicts the preparation of lentil soup. I

(19:12):
love that. I love that. Yeah, m hmm. Ancient Roman
and Hebrew texts mentioned lentils, and they appear several times
in the Bible, perhaps most significantly in the Genesis story
of the brothers Jacob and esau Um and sell Sells's
birthright to Jacob in exchange for some lintil soup. I
think there's been some translation fun with that as well,

(19:35):
but generally that's the story that gets told. Because lentils
are climate resilient and nutritious, they became a staple crop
in many areas where they were grown could be grown,
and as technology advanced and new irrigation techniques were found,
for example, they only became easier and cheaper to grow.

(19:56):
By the Middle Ages, lentils were viewed as a crop
for livestock in much of Europe. Yeah, m m. The
Spanish and Portuguese brought lentils to the America's in the
sixteenth century, though it wasn't until World War Two that
they got any real traction in the US, and that
was thanks to meat shortages and lentils nutritional qualities again,

(20:20):
relatively low cost of them, availability of them, things that
we've talked about before a lot on this show of
like how these wars so strongly impacted our agricultural and
diet landscape. Yeah. Uh. Meanwhile in five the aforementioned uh

(20:41):
lab plea and I hope I'm saying that right. I
did look it up. I French doesn't make any sense
to me anyway. Um, this, this type of lentil became
the first vegetable to be protected by French designate designation
of origin regulations. Um. And we've talked about these most often,
these regulations most often in terms of stuff like like
cheese and wine. Um. But yeah, these lentils, um, they

(21:05):
hair this um this firm um kind of modeled gray
green type with a with a really peppery flavor. Um.
And uh. And the specifics of them are often attributed
to the to the volcanic soil in the local area
where they're grown. Very cool, very cool, Okay. And the

(21:29):
nonprofit organization, the USA dry PA and Lintel Council was
formed with the goal promoting with the goal of promoting
these crops and protecting those in the industry. Uh. That
National Linel Festival that we mentioned earlier, It launched in
in hopes of promoting locally grown lentils. Yeah. Yeah, it

(21:53):
was part of a sort of a wave of like
agro tourism that that sort of kicking off around them.
That's another episode Iah. And yes, since lentils are a
staple of many places, they can survive in these harsher
conditions in some cases, and again aren't nutritious. Genetic research

(22:14):
into the lentil continues, as you kind of mentioning, Lauren,
especially in light of climate change. Yeah. Yeah, as we've
talked about related to all of that, sixteen was deemed
the International Year of the Pulses by the United Nations. UM.
They were, right, just trying to encourage conversation about the
importance of pulses or lagoons, like like lentils in diets

(22:37):
around the world. And right, so much interesting research. I Uh,
all of it is like really specific and nerdy and dry.
So I didn't talk about a lot of specifics in here, UM,
but like, for example, I ran across a number of
papers from the last couple of years that we're looking into, um,

(22:59):
the like genetic history of how lentils were domesticated and
how they were developed for different climates and agricultural practices
around the world. Yeah, I love it. It It was one
of those things where I I was having trouble getting
a lot of the history part. But there were so
many papers and click on them and they were so
dense and so long, and they were like chemical formulas

(23:22):
and them mathematical things happening. And I was so filled
with warp that this is going on, but also very aware,
like I can't this is not the time. I'm glad
this is happening. Keep it up. Yeah, I can't break
this down in this podcast. No, that's not working a

(23:45):
little bit more generalist than that, yes, but it is
out there listeners, if you want to check it out,
and if you're somebody were always looking for people, if
you're working in this field, if you've done some lential research. Oh,
or if you've been to that Lentil festival, Oh my god,
oh yeah, I want to hear all about it. Um
and I've I've I've read that the I've read that

(24:07):
the crowning of the of the Little King and Little
Queen of the Lentil, of of of the Lentil, I think, yeah,
I'm not. Oh, I didn't write down the proper title.
I apologize. I've heard it is. It is an event
that needs to be witnessed to be understood. So wow,

(24:28):
that's okay, well we'll add it to our list. I
must understand, I need to understand, Laurence. Oh goodness, yes,
so that that is what we currently have to say
about lentils. It is. But we do have some listener

(24:49):
mail for you, and we will get into it after
we get back from one more group break for word
from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsoring, Yes,
thank you. We're back with listen renal soup. It makes

(25:16):
me want to sing to the hills, Lorden. There's very
there's a very like like Glenda the Good which kind
of like vibe going on there. For that one, I
was going to do the sound of music like spinning.
Last time I tried to spin during one of these,
it was not good because I'm connected to a lot
of wires. So oh yeah, no, no, no, don't know.

(25:39):
But just know, if I could get more elaborate with these,
oh yeah, I would. I think we might get out
of hand. And actually, yeah, I don't think. I think
maybe we don't need to introduce that kind of chaos.
I need a stunt coordinator. Well, you listen to the show,

(26:01):
you wouldn't know. It's a blessing and a curse. You're right,
we'll keep it here in my chair with North spinning. Okay. Never,
I think that's good. I think this is a good choice.
I feel like you're talking me back. Okay. Terius wrote

(26:27):
it took hearing about the poor people of Nova Scotia
being called Blue Noser is based on the cold to
finally motivate me to write in It's most likely from
a very fast and famous forties racing and working schooner
built in Nova Scotia. I first heard about the Blue
Nose while living near Vancouver on this series of Canadian
history TV ads. Okay. I also learned all about why

(26:51):
from Winnie the Pooh, the original bear the book is
inspired from, but history lessons aside, I've been listening to
your podcast US while making and baking pies for my
small batch pie business in Melbourne, Australia. Dessert pies are
not a big thing here, as you both have mentioned,
savory pies are more the ticket. But during COVID lockdowns,

(27:12):
I noticed all of us North American expats really missing
and feeling nostalgic for a taste of home and comfort foods.
So I started making and selling pies at local farmers
markets I love to hear your banter creative insights, and
my favorite is when you nerd out, because I usually
nerd out on the same things. Thanks for being a
voice from home when my homesickness has hit me so hard,

(27:33):
I sort of jump all over the place in the
order of listening, So bear with me. First, Thanks for
educating me on zinfandel. I'll have to re examine my
bias totally, remember the two sweet wine from my college days,
and try a few labels when I'm next state side.
Oz is well known for their sharra, so I tend
to go for that in red and in whites. For
go verts to mina go verts to a minor. Oh,

(27:56):
German coming from me again, Hopefully that's close, Um continued
to introduced to me by a dear German friend. Next,
I'm glad you've got the intel on thick shakes and
what that means here. Sorry to say, they are still
not as good as a proper milkshake from a diner
back home. That's next on my to do list cherry

(28:18):
pies and milk Chake's Diner. Last, I had to laugh
when Annie mentioned her challenge when saying, roar, why did
I do this to myself. Yes, I have one too,
and always have to consciously position my lips to make
sure I actually say roar and not cheat and say war.

(28:40):
I shudder when the word aurora is on my vocal horizon.
Thanks for keeping me company and laughing during my baking sessions.
Take care from oz. Oh, that's so fun. I didn't.
I did it to myself. We were just talking about, right,
I was talking about how I all get stuck on

(29:02):
a word and it's like I'm on loop and I
can't say it correctly because I'm so in my head
about how I can't say it correctly, and it's like
you see it coming, you see it on your vocal
horizon as you say, and you're like, oh yeah, oh yeah,
no we we all no no matter, I mean right

(29:24):
like like we we talk like kind of professionally, semi professionally,
i'd say, and right like, no matter how often you
do this, there's always going to be words that trip
you up. So I it's not, it's just it's just
how brains work. It's terrible. Brains are terrible. Sorry you
heard it here. Also, your pies. I love pies, as

(29:47):
we know. Yes, savory sweet sounds delicious. I bet we're
very much appreciated during COVID for sure. Oh I could
use a pie right now. I can always use a pie.
I've actually they had a pretty like high pie experience,
um over over the past few days or the past
week or so. Um. Usually I would say I have

(30:10):
like zero pies a week, and over the past week
week and a half, I've had like four. So I'm like,
all right, just like a lot of things converging in
a very pleasant pie related way, pleasant pie related way.
That's very happy. And I will say Australian style meat

(30:30):
pies specifically are a thing that I'm familiar with because
there is in Atlanta pie shop called the Australian Bakery.
Oh goodness. Anyway, yeah they Yes, it's Australian ex pats
who make meat pies and they're lovely. Yeah. And that's
one of the things that you you mentioned and that

(30:52):
I always find fascinating is you know this when you're homesick, uh,
and you're like I want to I want this food,
and then go and start making it so other people
are homesick as well. I love it so good. Yeah, um,
Andrew wrote, I just listen to your pair episode and

(31:12):
you read some listener now where the person mentioned ranch
dill Oyster crackers. I can't believe I forgot to mention
these in my message. My mom has a recipe that
sounds basically identical to the one mentioned, and she makes
them almost every year around the holidays. When my wife
and I were first dating, I made her and her
roommates a batch of these, along with some other holiday treats.
She says this event is one of the reasons why

(31:33):
I ended up winning her over back in those early days.
Dil It brings the people together. I love that too.
I love that. I love how many people you've written in.
These are those connections for talking about right, these dill
Oyster crackers. I need to get to know this guy.

(31:54):
I love that one down right. Yes, and Andrew had
written in about sill previously, and we read Andrew's message
on here. But yeah, I just love that you heard
this message like I made that too, and I have
this memory associated with it. It's such a good memory.
I love it. It's so lovely it is. It is well.

(32:18):
Thanks to both of these listeners for writing in. If
you would like to write to us, you can our
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from you. Savor is production of I Heart Radio. For
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(32:39):
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our superproducers Dylan Fagan
and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and we
hope that lots more good things are coming your way