Bloomberg Lentils
Beating Inflation & Eating Like Royalty 👑
Good Evening Friends,
If you’re on Twitter much, no doubt you saw the viral tweet from Bloomberg Opinion less than a week ago ⬇️
The article came across as completely tone-deaf and condescending to most people. First, most people fall well under the $300K earning rate. Second, the suggestions came across as extremely patronizing (ride the bus? Don’t buy in bulk? Etc) .
Then we had POTUS telling us yesterday to expect food shortages to continue and “it’s gonna be real”
This is not a political commentary in any way. This Substack is all about cooking 🧑🍳 🥘 . However, global events are making a few things very clear.
Grocery and Food Costs are up sharply
The phenomenon of seeing empty shelves in the grocery store will continue
Restaurant spending is down sharply. Further, most feedback I’m hearing and seeing is that quality and value at most restaurants has dropped sharply. It was inevitable. With sky high costs, restaurants operate on razor thin margins… compromises are the only way to keep the doors open.
Now, more than ever, it’s imperative that we are able to cook for and nourish ourselves.
The good news is that we can cook delicious foods, maximize our $ and get creative. As there is a “Return to Home Cooking” I am confident that we will be eating the tastiest and most satisfying meals around our own tables.
So today is all inspired by Bloomberg! We are going to talk about Lentils…
Poverty Food vs Comfort Food:
Now is a really good time to talk about perceptions and how they relate to, and influence, eating trends.
Since the dawn of time scarcity and supply have driven demand and desirability for most resources. Food ingredients are no exception.
Hundreds of years ago spices, teas and citrus were all coveted and prized. In our lifetimes we’ve seen things like truffles (Alba whites and Perigord blacks) 🍄 , foie gras 🦆 , artisan balsamic vinegars, otoro 🍣 , caviars 🐠, saffron (and more) command high dollar prices… classified as “luxury ingredients”.
On the other end of the spectrum… rice, beans, quinoa and…. lentils: All plentiful, ordinary; held in popular opinion as unremarkable.
It’s natural to assign a higher desirability to luxury ingredients than peasant-everyday ingredients.
*Note: The placebo effect is in full force with Food & Beverage. I’ve seen self-proclaimed “Foodies” eat sour crab and thought it was great because they were in a fancy-looking restaurant. (I didn’t eat mine)
This doesn’t just apply to ingredients but also entire food cultures. A lot of people have pre-determined price points in mind when assessing “value” for food.
$5 for a taco is ok, but a $15 taco is obscene!
$42 for a dozen oysters is ok, but I’m not paying more than $12 for a goat curry.
These are but a few examples so you get the idea.
Many of the timeless foods and dishes that live on through generations are from humble, inexpensive ingredients…. comforting food.
A few examples would be oxtails, beef tongue and hangar steaks. All used to be cheap or throwaway cuts until higher profile chefs began using and incorporating on their menus. Over time more restaurants and chefs began using these ingredients more and more… driving up demand and the price per unit with it (*Note: Last oxtails I saw were over $10/lb. If you’ve ever cleaned and cooked oxtails.. you’ll know just how insane that price is 😂 )
But the magic of cooking is that you can take any ingredient, and make something delicious.
You can have mind-blowing caviar and truffle experiences… and also braises, noodles and stews that are equally as delicious and impactful.
I’ve had curries that would have been worth $100 for the flavor alone, and also Truffle 🍝 that tasted so bad (and the truffles were so bland) that a fair price would’ve been 10% of what was charged on the menu.
So leaving behind any preconceived notions about luxury vs poor ingredients… let’s talk lentils… and turn this delicious and versatile ingredient into a regular item in your cooking rotation!
Lentils 101:
There’s 6 Basic Types of Lentils. All are low in fat and have high amounts of protein, fiber, calcium, folates and other nutrients.
Black: Also called Beluga lentils (they resemble Beluga caviar). These have a full bodied, deep and earthy flavor similar to black beans.
Brown: The most widely sold lentil in grocery stores across the US 🇺🇸 , these have a firm texture that hold shape when cooked.
Red & Yellow: Mild and sweet, these are frequently used in Indian 🇮🇳 & Middle Eastern cooking. These lentils get soft when cooked and partially break down.
*Dal is a type of lentil that has been split and is not wholly intact.
Green & Puy: The longest to cook of all the varieties (about 45 minutes) they hold their shape well. Puy lentils (aka French lentils), the original green lentil is harvested in the French region of Le Puy, and known for having the best texture and flavor of all lentil varieties. Legit Puy lentils carry a slight premium $ cost compared to other lentils.
I’m going to be dropping a few lentil recipes in the next week. Today we are going to make a delicious meal fit for a king/queen 👑 using lentils… for ~$5.
Oh, and it can be ready in 15-20 mins!
On the Menu: Steamed Cod, Melted Bell Peppers & Bloomberg Lentils™️
