Eating more legume foods is good for your heart.
Northern Legume Producers Association, SUPPLIED
NDSU Extension Julie Garden-Robinson
“Hot pea porridge, cold pea porridge, pea porridge in the pot…”
If you know this old English nursery rhyme for children, you might remember that it ends with “nine days”.
According to some historical references, people in medieval times kept a pot of a simmered stew recipe in a large kettle suspended over an open fire. Every day, the pot was “fed” with kitchen scraps.
Of course, simmering a pot for nine days does not meet modern food safety standards. Make sure you use any leftovers in your fridge within four days.
Other culinary authors have said that in times of scarcity, it is more likely to incorporate leftovers from the evening meal into breakfast than the primitive slow cooker suspended over a fire.
A certain type of legume was probably a key ingredient in these early porridge recipes. In fact, the word “pulse” comes from the Latin word “pulsis”, which means “porridge”.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the broad category of legumes is part of the “legume” family. Worldwide, legumes include edible dry beans, chickpeas, lentils, and split peas.
Food historians have indicated that pulses have been used for at least 11,000 years in cooking around the world. Lenses are referenced several times in the Bible. The first cookbook from around 900 AD includes a recipe for lentil soup. Lentils have been found in Egyptian tombs.