Lentils.
Description.—Several varieties of the lentil are cultivated for food, but all are nearly alike in composition and nutritive value. They have long been esteemed as an article of diet. That they were in ordinary use among the Hebrews is shown by the frequent mention of them in Scripture. It is thought that the red pottage of Esau was made from the red variety of this legume.
The ancient Egyptians believed that a diet of lentils would tend to make their children good tempered, cheerful, and wise, and for this reason constituted it their principal food. A gravy made of lentils is largely used with their rice by the natives of India, at the present day.
The meal which lentils yield is of great richness, and generally contains more casein than either beans or peas. The skin, however, is tough and indigestible, and being much smaller than peas, when served without rejecting the skins, they appear to be almost wholly of tough, fibrous material; hence they are of little value except for soups, purees, toasts, and other such dishes as require the rejection of the skin. Lentils have a stronger flavor than any of the other legumes, and their taste is not so generally liked until one has become accustomed to it.
Lentils are prepared and cooked in the same manner as dried peas, though they require somewhat less time for cooking.
The large dark variety is better soaked for a time previous to cooking, or parboiled for a half hour and then put into new water, to make them less strong in flavor and less dark in color.