'Adas — Everyday Lentils with Cumin and Olive Oil
A brown lentil soup-purée perfumed with cumin, coriander, and garlic, bound with olive oil and lifted by a touch of vinegar. It is eaten by dipping flatbread into it. Comforting, earthy, it is the quintessential working meal.
A brown lentil soup-purée perfumed with cumin, coriander, and garlic, bound with olive oil and lifted by a touch of vinegar. It is eaten by dipping flatbread into it. Comforting, earthy, it is the quintessential working meal.
Come closer, and do not disdain this humble-looking dish. I have seen kings grow fat on meats and sweets until their dynasty softened like them; but the man who wishes to think must eat like the desert man, frugally. My maidservant would let these lentils swell from dawn, then cook them gently with oil, cumin, and a head of garlic until they fell apart into a mush. I dipped my bread in it, and the mind remained clear for study. Keep frugality, friend: it is what makes peoples strong.
- •Brown lentils — two handfuls per guest (nourishing base)
- •Olive oil — a good drizzle (binding agent and richness)
- •Garlic — a few crushed cloves (aromatic)
- •Cumin and coriander seeds, ground — to taste (signature Maghrebi spices)
- •Wine vinegar — a few drops (final sour touch)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
'Adas — Everyday Lentils with Cumin and Olive Oil
A brown lentil soup-purée perfumed with cumin, coriander, and garlic, bound with olive oil and lifted by a touch of vinegar. It is eaten by dipping flatbread into it. Comforting, earthy, it is the quintessential working meal.
Why this dish? This is the frugal food of the North African scholar that Ibn Khaldun was all his life: lentils, a little oil, flatbread. He, who in the Muqaddima contrasted the frugality of desert dwellers (badawa) with the softness of opulent cities, ate this humble dish daily — it nourishes the body without weighing it down, ideal for long hours of writing in Frenda where he composed his work.
Come closer, and do not disdain this humble-looking dish. I have seen kings grow fat on meats and sweets until their dynasty softened like them; but the man who wishes to think must eat like the desert man, frugally. My maidservant would let these lentils swell from dawn, then cook them gently with oil, cumin, and a head of garlic until they fell apart into a mush. I dipped my bread in it, and the mind remained clear for study. Keep frugality, friend: it is what makes peoples strong.
Ingredients (period version)
- Brown lentils — two handfuls per guest (nourishing base)
- Olive oil — a good drizzle (binding agent and richness)
- Garlic — a few crushed cloves (aromatic)
- Cumin and coriander seeds, ground — to taste (signature Maghrebi spices)
- Wine vinegar — a few drops (final sour touch)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Brown or green lentils — 250 g (base)
- Olive oil — 4 tbsp (binding agent)
- Garlic — 3 cloves (aromatic)
- Ground cumin — 1 tsp (spice)
- Ground coriander — 1/2 tsp (spice)
- Onion — 1 small (base)
- Red wine vinegar — 1 tsp (acidity)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
- Flatbread (pita or galette) — for serving (accompaniment)
Method
- Sauté the chopped onion in olive oil over low heat until softened.
- Add the crushed garlic, cumin, and coriander, and let fragrance for one minute.
- Pour in the rinsed lentils and cover with water by two fingers. Cook gently for 35 to 45 minutes, without salting at first.
- When the lentils are falling apart, salt, partially mash some to thicken, and adjust water for a thick soup texture.
- Off the heat, add the vinegar and a final drizzle of oil. Serve with flatbread for dipping.
How it was made : Lentils ('adas) are among the oldest foods of the Fertile Crescent and the Maghreb. In the 14th century, they were cooked in an earthenware pot (qidr) over embers, slowly, with oil, garlic, and cumin. Flatbread served as both spoon and plate. It was the food of students, soldiers, and devotees as well as ordinary people.
The contemporary twist : A veil of garlic-infused olive oil, a few sprigs of fresh coriander, and a squeeze of lemon juice: the same thousand-year-old soup, presented in a contemporary meze style.
Sources : Kitāb al-ṭabīkh fī al-Maghrib wa-l-Andalus (anonymous Andalusian-Maghrebi cookbook, 13th c.), English trans. Charles Perry · Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddima — chapters on the frugality of nomads and the opulence of cities
Ibn Khaldun · Charactorium
