#chickpeas
Today, I’m going to be making a simple pulse and leaf salad present in ancient Cretan - and possibly wider Hellenic - culture! It’ still eaten today, in a modern dish called “palikaria” which is eaten in the Eastern Mediterranean around feast days. Although the modern version of this dish is associated with Christian religious festivals, its likely that it arose from pre-Christian practices!
In any case, let’s now take a look at the world that was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like my recipes, consider checking out my Patreon!
Ingredients
½ cup small broad beans
½ cup chickpeas
½ cup green lentils
1 tbsp salt
½ cup olive oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
parsley
arugula
sesame seeds
Method
1 - Soak Pulses
To begin with, we need to prepare our pulses. If you’re using dried pulses, soak these overnight in some water. If you’re using them canned, simply drain them.
Next, we need to wash these in salted water. Do this by placing into a pot, a half a cup of chickpeas, a half a cup of green lentils, and half a cup of broad beans (or butter beans, if you can’t get your hands on them) Pour in some water until the pulses are just submerged. Heat this slightly over a medium heat for a few minutes.
2 - Make Dressing
While your pulses are soaking together, go make your salad dressing. Although probably a more modern development, it’s not unlikely that a simple olive oil and wine vinegar dressing was made and used in antiquity.
In any case, quickly whisk together equal amounts of olive oil and red wine vinegar until it emulsifies into a smooth seasoning. Make sure to taste this and adjust to your preference.
3 - Toss Salad
Now, we need to drain our pulses, again. The ritual washing of things in salted water (such as sea water) was a common motif in contemporary Hellenic religious practices - and it’s likely that some food types were prepared in a similar manner (particularly dishes being prepared for a ritual)
Place a bed of your rocket (or arugula) leaves onto a plate, and spoon on a generous portion of your pulses. Drizzle with a bit of your dressing, and sprinkle a handful of sesame seeds onto the plate.
Serve up and dig in!
The finished dish is a simple yet filling meal, packed full of protein! The pulses used would have been available in antiquity, and archaeological records show that lentils, chickpeas, and broad beans were all cultivated in the Eastern Mediterranean since the Neolithic period - albeit in differing amounts, depending on the size of the settlement, and the quality of the soils.
Hi All,
I hope you all are having a chance to take a break from work as 2018 approaches! I’ll be back to reviewing articles after the LSA annual meeting in January, but until then here’s an interesting article about gentrification and bilingual education to tide you over. Enjoy!
LL Article Comparison:
This article reminds me of the recipe for pasta mista:
Much as this Italian recipe elevates pasta that Americans might throw away, the article discusses how middle-class white families are beginning to elevate their perceptions of bilingual education. However, unlike the worrisome implications of this strain on those students who might be pushed out of multilingual instruction, you’ll find this recipe for an usual type of pasta, chickpea, and basil dish has only delicious implications if you give it a go. Good cooking, and see you in 2018!
MWV 12/29/17