Food History

Happy New Year! I’m sorry I’ve not been here. I have no excuse, because I wasn’t even partying last night. I think not taking time off for the rest of the silly season caught up with me. More ingredients for you tonight and maybe for the next few days, just until life finishes that ‘catching up’ thing.

For no reason in particular, today’s ingredients start with the letter ‘l’. Or maybe it’s because I was lazy yesterday. Lazy in a food history sense, anyway. I wrote over 3,000 words yesterday and every single one of them was fiction.

lavender (lavandula spika, angustifolia etc) - I’m told the seeds germinate if you moist-chill them first, which explains why some of the best lavender in the world grows in moistly chill Tasmanian and English countryside. I nearly served this as a salad herb once when our family was camping. The family objected. It is, however, perfectly edible, especially in blueberry and lavender jam. I have some of the best lavender right now, from a friend’s garden. I ought to be drying it in the other room, but it’s scenting this room instead, simply because it’s so very nice.

leek (allium porrum)- Egyptian arabic kurrat rumi, famous for appearing on hats in Shakespearian plays (not to mention its affiliation with Wales, which is why it appears on hats in…). Leek cooks brilliantly, but needs (to my mind) a lot of cooking to reduce the very sharp flavour. It goes well with the most surprising things - leek and chestnut soup, for instance, is something I love, and leek and mushroom and cream pasties are worth trying.

lemon (citrus limonum - the ultimate in obvious Latin names) Portuguese limão -if you find lemon too acidic, try replacing it with lemon myrtle, lemon grass or lemon tea tree in recipes. You may find you have to adjust the liquids.

lemon grass (cymbopogon citratus) - a semitropical, long-stemmed plant. It makes terrific herbal tea, but is even better in cooking.

lentil (lens culinaria) names after its disc shape (well, I think it looks like a lense, myself) the classic lentil is even more classic in Indian cookery. It is a legume, like peas and beans, and, like beans and peas, there are too many varieties to enumerate here (I feel lazy).

lettuce (lactuca sativa) - French laitue or salade (very confusing if you want a salad in France and end up with a lettuce head)

loquat (eriobotrya japonica) a beautiful tree with a lovely fruit, very suitable for children clambering. Occasionally you see a tree in Melbourne, or the mountains. Loquats are best eaten raw, and with care, since the skin is not delightful and the stones are inedible. The rest is lovely… when you get there.

lotus (nelumbo nucifera or the Egyptian lotus could be nymphaea lotus) - yes, I admit it, I am a lotus eater. Try buying a tin of lotus paste and stuffing pastry made out of rice flour and water, then steaming it, and rolling it in coconut. You, too will be a lotus eater, and the despair of 19th century poets.