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Lentil
Lentils
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Tribe:	Vicieae
Genus:	Lens
Species:	L. culinaris
Binomial name
Lens culinaris Medikus

The lentil (Lens culinaris) (International Feed Number, 5-02-506) is an edible pulse. It is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about 40 centimetres (16 in) tall and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each.

Background[link]

Lentil plants in the field before flowering

Lentils have been part of the human diet since the aceramic (pottery nonproducing) Neolithic times, being one of the first crops domesticated in the Near East. Archeological evidence shows they were eaten 13,000 to 9,500 years ago.^[1]

Lentil colours range from yellow to red-orange to green, brown and black.^[1] Lentils also vary in size (e.g. Masoor lentils, shown in photos here), and are sold in many forms, with or without the skins, whole or split.

Types[link]

Illustration of the lentil plant, 1885

Red and brown comparison

• Brown/Spanish pardina
• French green/puy lentils (dark speckled blue-green)
• Green
• Black/beluga
• Yellow/tan lentils (red inside)
  • Red Chief (decorticated yellow lentils)
• Eston Green (Small green)
• Richlea (medium green)
• Laird (large green)
• Petite Golden (decorticated lentils)
• Masoor (brown-skinned lentils which are orange inside)
  • Petite crimson/red (decorticated masoor lentils)
• Macachiados (big Mexican yellow lentils)

The seeds require a cooking time of 10 to 40 minutes, depending on the variety — shorter for small varieties with the husk removed, such as the common red lentil — and have a distinctive, earthy flavor. Lentils are used throughout South Asia, the Mediterranean regions and West Asia. They are frequently combined with rice, which has a similar cooking time. A lentil and rice dish is referred to in western Asia as mujaddara or mejadra. Rice and lentils are also cooked together in khichdi, a popular dish in the Indian subcontinent (India and Pakistan); a similar dish, kushari, made in Egypt, is considered one of two national dishes. Lentils are used to prepare an inexpensive and nutritious soup all over Europe and North and South America, sometimes combined with some form of chicken or pork.

Dried lentils can also be sprouted by soaking in water for one day and keeping moist for several days, which changes their nutrition profile.

Lentils with husk remain whole with moderate cooking; lentils without husk tend to disintegrate into a thick purée, which leads to quite different dishes.^[2]

Nutritional value and health benefits[link]

With about 30% of their calories from protein, lentils have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any legume or nut, after soybeans and hemp.^[3] Proteins include the essential amino acids isoleucine and lysine, and lentils are an essential source of inexpensive protein in many parts of the world, especially in West Asia and the Indian subcontinent, which have large vegetarian populations.^[4] Lentils are deficient in two essential amino acids, methionine and cysteine.^[5] However, sprouted lentils contain sufficient levels of all essential amino acids, including methionine and cysteine.^[6]

Lentils also contain dietary fiber, folate, vitamin B₁, and minerals. Red (or pink) lentils contain a lower concentration of fiber than green lentils (11% rather than 31%).^[7] Health magazine has selected lentils as one of the five healthiest foods.^[8] Lentils are often mixed with grains, such as rice, which results in a complete protein dish.

Lentils also have antinutritional factors, such as trypsin inhibitors and relatively high phytate content. Trypsin is an enzyme involved in digestion, and phytates reduce the bioavailability of dietary minerals.^[9] The phytates can be reduced by soaking the lentils in warm water overnight.

Lentils are a good source of iron.^[10]

Production[link]

Lentil output in 2005

Worldwide lentil production

Lentils are relatively tolerant to drought, and are grown throughout the world. The FAO reported that the world production of lentils for calendar year 2009 was 3.917 million metric tonnes, primarily coming from Canada, India, Turkey and the United States.

About a quarter of the worldwide production of lentils is from India, most of which is consumed in the domestic market. Canada is the largest export producer of lentils in the world,^{[citation needed]} and Saskatchewan is the most important producing region in Canada. Statistics Canada estimates that Canadian lentil production for the 2009/10 year is a record 1.5 million metric tonnes.^[11]

The Palouse region of eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle, with its commercial center at Pullman, Washington, constitute the most important lentil-producing region in the United States.^[12] Montana and North Dakota are also significant lentil growers.^[1] The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported United States 2007 production at 154.5 thousand metric tonnes.

Top ten lentil producers – 2009
Country	Production (tonnes)	Footnote
Canada	1,510,200
India	950,000
Turkey	302,181
United States	265,760
Australia	143,000
Ethiopia	123,777
China	120,000
Syria	102,461
Iran	83,985
Bangladesh	60,537
World	3,917,923	A
No symbol = official figure, P = official figure, F = FAO estimate, * = Unofficial/semiofficial/mirror data, C = Calculated figure A = Aggregate (may include official, semiofficial or estimates); Source: Food And Agricultural Organization of United Nations: Economic And Social Department: The Statistical Division

Current United States production numbers can be found at the NASS database here by selecting the desired items. Lentils can be used for stuffing and are very useful as of their softness.

Diseases[link]

In culture[link]

Lentils are mentioned many times in the Hebrew Bible, the first time recounting the incident in which Jacob purchases the birthright from Esau with stewed lentils (a "mess of pottage").^[13] In Jewish mourning tradition, they are considered as food for mourners, together with boiled eggs, because their round shape symbolizes the life cycle from birth to death.

Lentils were the main ingredient in the diet of ancient Iranians, who consumed lentils daily in the form of a stew poured over rice.

Lentils are also commonly used in Ethiopia in a stew-like dish called kik, or kik wot, one of the dishes people eat with Ethiopia's national food, injera flat bread. Yellow lentils are used to make a nonspicy stew, which is one of the first solid foods Ethiopian women feed their babies.

In Shia narrations, lentils are said to be blessed by seventy Prophets including Jesus and Mohammed.^[14]

In Italy, eating lentils on New Year's Eve traditionally symbolizes the hope for a prosperous new year, most likely because of their round, coin-like form.^{[citation needed]}

In "Cinderella", one of Grimm's Fairy Tales, Cinderella's stepmother assigns to Cinderella the task of fishing lentils out of ash. If she succeeds, she may go to the ball.

See also[link]

Food portal

• Revalenta arabica, a 19th century patent medicine made of lentils
• Lentil soup
• National Lentil Festival
• Dal
• Moujadara

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food. ISBN 0-19-211579-0
• S S Yadav et al. Lentil: An Ancient Crop for Modern Times. (2007). Springer Verlag. ISBN 9781402063121.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lens culinaris

• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Lentil

• Crop Wild Relatives Gap Analysis Portal reliable information source on where and what to conserve ex-situ, regarding Lens genepool
• All types of lentils & uses
• Lentils - Country Production, Consumption, Exports, and Imports Statistics
• Alternative Field Crops Manual: Lentil

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Christopher Richard "Rick" Stein OBE (born 4 January 1947) is an English chef, restaurateur and television presenter. He is currently the head chef and co-owner of "Rick Stein at Bannisters" at Mollymook, New South Wales, Australia,^[1] owns four restaurants in Padstow, a fish and chip shop in Falmouth, Cornwall and has written or presented a number cookery books and television programmes.

Early years[link]

Of German descent, Stein was born in Oxfordshire to Eric and Dorothy Stein, and attended Uppingham School and studied English at New College, Oxford.^[2] Later, he moved to Padstow, Cornwall where he had spent many childhood holidays.^[3][4]

Career[link]

Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant, Padstow

Stein opened his first business in Padstow in 1974, and now specialises in fish cookery. His business operates four restaurants, a bistro, a cafe, a seafood delicatessen, patisserie shop, a gift shop and a cookery school.^[5] His impact on the local economy of Padstow is such that it has been nicknamed "Padstein" despite the phrase being openly disputed by Rick himself.^[6]

In 2009 Stein made his first acquisition in the nearby trading village of St Merryn, which is 3.5 miles from Padstow. When taking over the Cornish Arms public house, which is located on the outskirts of St Merryn, Stein's stated aim was to 'keep it a traditional Cornish pub'.^[7]

On 1 October 2009, Stein opened with his fiancee publicist Sarah Burns, "Rick Stein at Bannisters" in Mollymook, on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Rick said at the time of opening, “Ever since a memorable weekend eating Pambula oysters and flathead in Merimbula in the sixties, I’ve had the image of the clean blue sea and sweet seafood of the South Coast fixed in my head so when I was introduced to Mollymook about six years ago I knew that one day I would open up a restaurant celebrating local fish and shellfish but keeping it really simple. Bannisters was the relaxed seaside hotel that I was looking for, so when they asked me if I’d be interested in cooking there I jumped at the opportunity.”^[8]

As well as running his business, Stein has become a popular television presenter on food. Gaining early exposure after appearing on Keith Floyd's 1984 series Floyd On Fish as a guest chef, he was noticed by the show's producer and was later offered the chance to present his own series – similar in vein to the "travelogue" style of cookery show pioneered by Floyd – on BBC television including Rick Stein's Taste of the Sea, Fruits of the Sea, Seafood Odyssey, Fresh Food, Seafood Lovers' Guide, Food Heroes, and in 2005 French Odyssey about a memorable journey down the canals of South Western France to the Mediterranean, Mediterranean Escapes. This starts where French Odyssey left off, and explores the Mediterranean coastline and islands in search of the best in the region's foods. Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey, travelling around Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. His current television programme is about the cooking of Spain off the beaten track.^{[citation needed]} Stein was often accompanied by his Jack Russell terrier, Chalky, who died in January 2007.^[9]

A book has accompanied each series, and his book English Seafood Cookery won the Glenfiddich Award for Food Book of the Year in 1989. Stein was awarded the OBE in the 2003 New Year Honours list for services to tourism in Cornwall.^[10]

Personal life[link]

Rick Stein in a 2006 cookery demonstration, in Melbourne, Australia

Stein lives in Padstow, Cornwall for part of the year but also has a house in Sydney with his wife, Sarah Stein and her two children. He has three sons from his marriage to his business partner Jill, which ended in 2002,^{[citation needed]} their divorce was granted on 8 June 2007.^[11]

Rick Stein's brother is the famous neurophysiologist John Stein.^{[citation needed]}

When Stein was eighteen his father committed suicide in Cornwall after suffering from bipolar disorder.^[12] Stein's brother, Professor John Stein teaches and researches medicine, and in particular dyslexia and neurophysiology, at Oxford University, where he is a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He also has a sister Henrietta and a half brother Jeremy who was from his mother's first marriage.

Stein and his ex-wife Jill jointly built up the food business which today is valued at £32 million, and employs over 300 people in Padstow.^[13]

Charity work[link]

Rick Stein is Patron of the charities Padstow Youth Project, South West PESCA (Duchy Fish Quota Co.), the National Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen, the National Coastwatch Institution, the Dyslexia Research Trust and The National Trust.

Publications[link]

• English Seafood Cookery, 1988 – (Glenfiddich Cook Book of the Year 1989)
• A Beginner's Guide to Seafood, 1992 (Chapter 4 Marine Cuisine Guides)
• Beach to Belly, 1994 (foreword)
• Taste of the Sea, 1995 (André Simon Cook Book of the Year 1996)
• Good Food Award Best Cookery Book, 1995/1996
• Rick Stein Fish, 10 Recipes 1996
• Fruits of the Sea, 1997 (ISBN 0-563-38457-3)
• Rick Stein’s Seafood Odyssey, 1999 (ISBN 0-577-33874-0)
• Rick Stein’s Fish Paste Odyssey, 1999 (ISBN 0-563-55186-0)
• Rick Stein’s Seafood Lovers’ Guide, 2000 (ISBN 0-563-48871-9)
• Rick Stein’s Seafood, 2001
• Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, 2001 – winner of category: Best Seafood and Fish in English & – winner of category: Best in the World Fish and Seafood (German translation – Gold medal – Gastronomische Akademie Deutschland 2003)
• My Favourite Seafood Recipes, 2002 (Marks and Spencers cookery book)
• Rick Stein’s Food Heroes, 2002 (Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2002 – winner of category: Best Local Cookery Book – winner of category: Best Cookery Book of the Year in Great Britain)(Jacob’s Creek World Food Media Awards 2003 – Silver for best hard cover recipe book)
• Rick Stein’s Guide to the Food Heroes of Britain,(ISBN 0-563-52175-9) 2003 (Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2003 – winner of category: Best Guide)
• Rick Stein’s Food Heroes, Another Helping, 2004
• Rick Stein's Complete Seafood (ISBN 1-58008-568-7) winner of the James Beard Foundation Award 2005 for Cook Book of the Year
• Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes (ISBN 0-563-49366-6), 2007
• Rick Stein Coast to Coast (ISBN 9781846076145), 2008
• Rick Stein's "Far Eastern Odyssey" 2009
• My Kitchen Table: Rick Stein's 100 Fish and Seafood Recipes (ISBN 9781849901581), 2011
• Rick Stein's Spain(ISBN 9781849901352)

TV[link]

• Floyd on Fish, BBC TV, 1985 (Stein's first television appearance – Floyd called him Nick several times)
• Taste of the Sea, BBC TV, 1995 (Glenfiddich TV Programme of the Year Award, Good Food Award Television Cookery Programme of the Year)
• Fruits of the Sea, BBC TV, 1997 (Silver Medal World Food Media Awards Adelaide 1997)
• Rick Stein’s Seafood Odyssey, BBC TV, 1999 (Bronze Medal World Food Media Awards Adelaide 1999)
• Fresh Food, BBC TV, 1999
• Personal Passions, BBC TV 1999
• Food & Drink, BBC TV, 1999 (Gold Award for Best Television Food Segment Within a Show – World Food Media Awards Adelaide 1999)
• Rick Stein’s Seafood Lover’s Guide, BBC TV, 2000 (Glenfiddich TV Programme of the Year Award 2001)
• Jacob’s Creek World Food Media Awards – Silver for best Television Food Show
• Friends for Dinner, BBC TV, 2000
• Rick Stein on Fishing, Carlton TV, 2001
• Rick Stein’s Food Heroes, BBC TV, 2002 (Jacob’s Creek World Food Media Awards 2003 – Gold for Best Television Food Show)
• Rick Stein’s Food Heroes, Another Helping, BBC TV October 2003, Series 2 BBC TV February 2004
• Rick Stein's French Odyssey, May 2005
• Betjeman and Me: Rick Stein's Story, August 2006
• Rick Stein and the Japanese Ambassador, BBC2, 2006
• Rick Stein in Du Maurier Country, BBC2, May 2007
• Fishy Treats and Simple Eats, Japanese Food Network, Autumn 2007
• Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escape, BBC2, 8 August 2007 (6-part series to accompany his book)
• On 16 February 2009 Stein was featured in an episode of the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? genealogy documentary series.
• "Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey", BBC2, July 2009.
• "Rick Stein's Food of the Italian Opera", BBC HD, June 2010
• "Rick Stein's Cornish Christmas", BBC2, December 2010
• "Rick Stein's Spain", BBC2, July 2011

Other awards[link]

For the restaurant:

• RAC/Sunday Times Taste of Britain Best Restaurant Award 1984
• Decanter Magazine Restaurant of the Year 1989
• The Good Hotel Guide Cesar Award 1995
• Egon Ronay Guide Restaurant of the Year 1996
• Hotel & Restaurant Magazine Seafood Restaurant of the Year 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2003
• AA Award – English Seafood Restaurant of the Year Award 2002

For the man:

• The Good Food Award Television and Radio Personality – 1995/1996
• The England for Excellence Awards – Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award – 1988–1998
• Caterer and hotelkeeper 1999 Chef Award – Chef of the Year The Catey Awards
• AA Guide Chefs’ Chef of the Year 1999–2000
• Waterford Wedgwood Hospitality Award – 1999
• The Glenfiddich Trophy – 2001
• The Cornwall Tourist Award – A special award for outstanding services to Cornwall 2002
• OBE – New Year’s Honour 2003: For services to West Country Tourism
• CatererSearch 100 – 14th most influential chef in UK in 2005

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rick Stein's Official Homepage
• Interview with Rick Stein – RadioLIVE New Zealand, June 2010.

Anjum Anand (born 15 August 1971 in London, England) is a British Indian food writer and TV chef of Indian cuisine.

Biography[link]

Anjum Anand, of Scottish-Indian descent, grew up in London but has also lived and studied in Geneva, Paris, and Madrid.^[1][2][3] She speaks French and Spanish, holds a degree in European business administration from the European Business School London, and for a period ran a business importing flat-pack furniture from eastern Europe.^[3][4] She has worked in the kitchens of hotel restaurants including at Café Spice in New York, as a waitress in Park Royal Hotel in New Delhi, and for Tommy Tang at Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles.^[1][5]

Her perspective on adapting healthy meals from a traditionally rich Indian diet came from personal experience of weight problems while growing up. Her diet consists of varied traditional dishes, recreated with wholesome ingredients and limited oil.^[5] At age 25 her first book Indian Every Day: Light Healthy Indian Food was published.^[1]

Anand became a regular guest on UKTV Food's Great Food Live from 2004 to 2007, and featured in the BBC Two series Indian Food Made Easy broadcast in 2007.^[3][6] Her accent and flirtatious manner have led to her being dubbed "the Nigella Lawson of Indian cuisine in Britain".^[2] Reacting to descriptions of herself as "television's tastiest chef", she finds it "preposterous".^[1]

She has been a regular contributor to The Times Online food pages since 2007. She has acted as consultant chef to Birds Eye brand to develop a range of healthy Indian ready meals.^[7] In September 2008 Anand published her third recipe book Anjum's New Indian, followed by a new BBC television series in November.^[3]

In mid 2011, she launched the brand The Spice Tailor having seven authentic Indian sauces, specially developed to deliver restaurant quality dishes that enable consumers to fill a gap in the market for those who enjoy fine Indian food ^{[8] [9]}

Personal life[link]

In addition to England, Anand also owns family homes in both Delhi and Calcutta.^[10]

Published works[link]

• Indian Every Day: Light, Healthy Indian Food (Headline Book Publishing, ISBN 0-7553-1201-5)
• Indian Food Made Easy (2007, Quadrille Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84400-571-0)
• Anjum's New Indian (2008, Quadrille Publishing, (ISBN 978-1-84400-616-8)
• Anjum's Eat Right For Your Body Type (2010, Quadrille Publishing, (ISBN 978-1-84400-757-8)
• I Love Curry (2010, Quadrille Publishing, (ISBN 978-1-84400-889-6)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Anjum Anand in The Times Online
• Indian Food Made Easy on BBC.co.uk
• Anjum Anand on Facebook
• Anjum Anand on Youtube
• Anjum Anand at the Internet Movie Database