Peace, Shalom, Salaam my friends,
The chick pea, garbanzo bean, cecci, ciche, Bengali gram, as well as by many other names. is one of the most readily recognized ingredients of Mediterranean cooking. It most likely originated in Turkey and made its way across western asian and into the Indian subcontinent between 7 and 6 thousand years ago. Since then it has taken the Mediterranean bassin by storm turning up in dishes of global renown from the Hummous bi Tahina of the Levant to the Cocido of Spain.
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| Cocido |
Chick peas can be ground into flour, roasted, stewed and fried whole,pounded and mixed with grains to make porridges and fritters.Without the chick pea many Mediterranean dishes would have a very diffrent character. Imagine Moroccan Harira, Israeli Falafel, Andalusian Tortillias de Camaerones with out chick peas, well, they simply would be something altogether different, and not nearly as interesting, or delicious, as they are.
So, I thought since I'm on the subject of chick peas, I might share a couple of my favorite recipes that make excellent use of them. One is a Spanish dish, one of the national dishes of Spain, in fact, called Cocido. Many scholars believe that Cocido developed as a result of the forced conversions of Jews and Muslms in Spain after the Reconquista. It bares some resmblence to the Adafina, or the Shabbat afternoon dish, which was slow cooked in clay ovens overnight, so that Jews could have a hot meal on Saturday for lunch. There are some tell, tell signs that show that it is a converso dish. Even though it resembles Adafina it always contains pork, and often contains a blood sausage, which of course is forbidden to Orthodox Jews. The other is a soup I thought would be appropriate here since Ramadan will be comming up near the end of the summer season, it is called Harira and it is a very substantial soup that is still eaten by Moroccan Muslims at the close of the day during Ramadan.
Cocido
Spanish Boiled Dinner
1&1/2 lb. cured brisket
9 oz.chunk of bacon
1 meaty ham bone
1 pigs foot cut in half
1 &1/4 beeef marrow bone cut in half
1 whole garlic bulb
2 bay leaves
1t. coarse ground peppercorns
1 & 1/4 cups chick peas , soaked overnight and drained
2 chicken quarters
1 small onion studded with 2 or 3 cloves
2 lge. carrots cut into chunks
1 &1/2 lbs. new potatues, scrubbed
2 spanish chorizo sausages
1morcilla( blood sausage, it is optional, I have omitted it and not missed it)
2 T long grain rice
1 small bell pepper, finely diced
2 leeks cut in chunks
Salt
Put the brisket& bacon into a large pan and cover with water. Bring it to a boil slowly, and simmer for 5 minutes, then drain. Using a 5 quart stockpot, place inside all the meats, skin side down, with the marrow bone and pigs foot. Add the garlic bulb, bay leaves and peppercorns, with water to cover. Bring to a simmer, skimming scum with a slotted spoon. Add the chick peas and simmer covered on lowest possible heat for 1 &1/2 hours. checking the liquid level occasionally; the contents should remain nearly covered.
Add the chicken and the onion to the pot. Cook untill the chick peas are done. Start the vegetables. Put the carrots, leeks and potatoe in to a pan with the chorizo(it is not time for the morcilla). Cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 25 minutes, untill potatoes are cooked. Add the morcilla about 5 minutes before the potatoes are done. Strain 5 cups broth from meat pot into a pan, for the soup. Bring back to the boil and sprinklle in the rice, cook for 15 minutes. Add the diced pepper and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Serve the soup as a first course. Drain the vegetables and sausages and arrange on a platter. Serve as a second course as an accompaniment to the meat. Remove the meats to a cutting board and slice. Remove marrow from bones and add to the chick peas. Arrange the chick peas on a heated platter with all the meats and chicken, moisten all with a little broth. Serve this feast with plenty of good country style bread to sop up juices(The Complete Spanish Cookbook, Pepita Aris).
Harira
Lamb and Chick Pea Soup
This soup has a rich, velvet like texture.
1 & 1/2 cups chick peas soaked and drained
salt to taste
9 cups of water
2/3 cups lintils
3 T white rice
3 T. flour blended with1/2 cup water
3 T. oliveoil
1 & 1/2 lbs. lamb, cubed
2 onions chopped
2cloves garlic minced
1/2 t. grnd. ginger
1t. grnd. cinamon
1/2 t. grnd. turmeric
1&1/2 lbs. peeled and seeded chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup each chopped flat leafed parsley and cilantro
Blk. Pppr. to taste
2 eggs
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice.
Put chick peas into a pan with 3cups water and cook at a simmer for about 1 hour or till very soft, drain, but, reserve 1 cup of cooking water . In a large dutch oven place the oil and heat over medium heat till a haze forms; add lamb and brown well. Add onions, garlic and the spices, sautee till very frangant, add 3 cups water and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes over a low heat. Agg 3 cuups more water and bring back to a boil, add the rice and lintils, then simmer for 20 minutes, and add flour/water slurry, stir in very well, add in the tomatoes, chick peas, herbs and the salt and pepper to taste( heavy on the blk.ppr.), simmer about 15 minutes more.If too thick , thin with a little chick pea cooking water. Remove from heat and beat together the eggs and the lemon juice, then stir into soup and serve imediately with flat bread and a cruet of extra virgin olive oil for garnishing (adapted from; Mediterranean: The Beautiful Cookbook, Joyce Goldstein). Try these dishes for a weekend get together. Their homeyness and ther rustic charm will be perfect for casual entertaining with good friends and family; and try to imagine what Mediterranean food would be without the contribution of the chick pea.
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