I'm proud to be an American but, please, leave out the "Americanization" of Old Country foods
I grew up in a household that was proud of our Latin heritage and struggling to be American all at the same time. I'm a mutt with all kinds of different ancestry ranging from Argentinian and Sicilian on my mother's side to Scottish and German on my father's side. And goodness knows what else is back in those higher branches on the family tree.
My grandmother tried to assimilate all our cultures into the huge American cooking pot in the kitchen.
She made "cheesecake" with cottage cheese because that was "more American". She put Italian sausage into Mac and Cheese because that was a "more American" kind of pasta. And, to lentil soup, she often added the "more American" hot dog.
I loved my grandmother...and, when she stuck to the traditional foods, she was a great cook. But the Americanization of the foods of her ancestors not only made me wonder about my heritage, it also tasted awful.
I don't want my food to be "more American". I like lots of traditions of all my mutt hertiages. I like the "strange" food from all the "Old Country" places in our family tree. And I certainly don't want hot dogs (or even tofu dogs) in my lentil soup.
So in honor of my Grandmari, this is her lentil soup...without any added Americanization.
Lentil Soup
2 tablespoons of olive oil1 cup of onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup of carrot, finely chopped
1/2 cup of celery, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 pound of lentils, picked and rinsed
1 cup of peeled and chopped tomatoes
2 quarts of vegetable broth or water
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
- Put the olive oil in a big sauce pan and set it on medium heat.
- Add the onion, the carrot, he celery and the salt and cook it up until the onions are translucent (about 6 or 7 minutes.)
- Add the lentils, the tomatoes, the broth, the coriander and the cumin and stir until everything is nicely combined.
- Turn up the heat to high and bring the mix just to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender. This will take half an hour or more...maybe even 45 minutes.
- When they're done, puree the mixture to the way you like it (smooth to chunky or somewhere in between).
