Totally Lentil!

The humble Lentil.

We all love this tasty little thing in our soups and stews, but whilst eating my delicious lentil & bacon soup today, I realised that I had no idea what it was and where it comes from.

Luckily I happened to stumble across Lentilfest.com (yes, really!) which has a page impressively entitled 'Letil Facts & Lore'.

Lore!

Cool!

Here we go:

The lentil is a cousin of the bean, and both are a part of the legume family. All legumes are seeds that grow within pods.

Lentils are shaped like a lens. In fact, lens is the Latin word for lentil. The size and appearance of lentils varies depending on the variety.

Lentils have been found in Egyptian tombs that date from 2400 BC. It may have been used as an aphrodisiac. They also thought that the lentil enlightened the minds of children, making them more cheerful and studious.

During World War lI, Americans were encouraged to eat lentils to help the wartime economy.

Fascinating, I'm sure you'll agree!

I've signed up for the weekly 'Lentil News' email, so expect more lentil-based trivia soon!

P.S. - Should anyone be interested, the 20th annual National Lentil Festival is on Friday & Saturday, August 22-23, 2008 in Pullman, Washington.

See you there!