Every Country Has a Lentil Soup, and the Bag at the Back of Your Cupboard Makes All of Them

In Genesis, a bowl of lentil soup costs one birthright. Esau came in from the field famished and sold his to his brother Jacob for bread and a pottage of lentils. Commentators have argued for centuries about what this says about Esau. Nobody asks what it says about the soup. It was very good, and Jacob made it. The cook came out ahead. The cook usually does.

Lentils need no soaking, keep for a year in the cupboard and cook in under an hour, which makes them the fastest dried legume and the one most often found behind everything else. Choose a lentil, a country and a pot. The pick is in bold.

The choices

1. The lentil.

   • Brown or green, the supermarket bag: earthy, holds its shape, 30 to 40 minutes.
   • French green (Puy) or black (beluga): firmer and peppery, holds its shape for good, costs more.
   • Red or yellow (split): collapses into a thick purée in 15 to 20 minutes.

   Rinse them all and pick through for stones. The bag sometimes includes one at no extra charge.

2. The country. The base is the same everywhere: onion, fat, lentils, liquid. The passport changes.

   • Italy: carrot, celery, garlic, tomatoes, rosemary, a parmesan rind if you saved one. Brown lentils. Olive oil and parmesan on top.
   • Turkey (mercimek çorbası): red lentils with carrot, cumin and tomato paste, blended smooth, with lemon and butter sizzled with chilli flakes.
   • Germany (Linsensuppe): brown lentils with carrot, leek, potato and sliced smoked sausage, and vinegar on the table.
   • India, by way of dal: red lentils with turmeric and ginger, finished with cumin seeds and garlic fried in ghee or oil and poured over.

3. The texture. Brothy. Half-blended, ten seconds of a stick blender, for body with the lentils still visible. Smooth, which red lentils do on their own.

4. The pot.

   • Stovetop: about 40 minutes of simmering for brown lentils, 20 for red.
   • Pressure cooker: 10 to 15 minutes at high pressure for brown, then 10 minutes of natural release. Red needs about half.
   • Slow cooker: 6 to 8 hours on low. Add greens, dairy and acid at the end.

5. The finish. This one is not a choice. Every country above ends with acid: lemon, vinegar, or both. Without it, lentil soup tastes like the inside of the cupboard. With it, it tastes like the reason you kept the bag. Add it at the end; acid in the pot early keeps lentils firm for longer.

The recipe (Italy, brown lentils, stovetop)

Serves 6. About an hour.

• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus more to serve
• 1 onion, 2 carrots and 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 can (400 g) chopped tomatoes
• 300 g brown or green lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 1.5 litres stock, or water and a parmesan rind
• 1 bay leaf and 1 sprig rosemary (or ½ tsp dried)
• 2 handfuls spinach or kale, fresh or frozen (optional)
• 1 to 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Black pepper and grated parmesan

1. Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrot, celery and salt for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and starting to colour.
2. Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir for 2 minutes, until the paste darkens.
3. Add the tomatoes, lentils, stock, bay, rosemary and rind. Bring to a boil, then partly cover and simmer for 35 to 45 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Add water if it thickens past soup.
4. Fish out the bay leaf, the rosemary stem and the rind. Stir in the greens until they wilt.
5. Season, then add the vinegar a tablespoon at a time, tasting. Serve with a thread of olive oil and the parmesan.

Other passports, from the same pot:

• Turkey: 250 g red lentils, no tomatoes or rosemary; 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp paprika with the paste. Simmer 20 minutes, blend smooth, and finish with lemon and 2 tbsp butter sizzled with ½ tsp chilli flakes.
• Germany: no tomatoes or rosemary; add a diced potato and a sliced leek with the lentils, 200 g smoked sausage, sliced, for the last 10 minutes, and vinegar at the table.
• India: 250 g red lentils, no tomatoes, rosemary or parmesan; 1 tsp turmeric and 1 tbsp grated ginger with the garlic. Finish with 1 tsp cumin seeds and two sliced garlic cloves fried in 2 tbsp ghee or oil until they crackle, then lemon.

Leftovers keep four days in the fridge and thicken overnight, so loosen them with water and reheat until steaming, to 74°C (165°F). Esau, for the record, never complained about the soup. He complained about the price.

What we read: Genesis 25:29–34 for the sale, and FoodSafety.gov for the reheating temperature and its cold-storage chart for the four days; the choices and the recipes are our own synthesis.