Lentils Le Puy – or Haute Loire “green pearl”
Since 1819, Sabarot is a leading French company that works with dried vegetables and especially with green lentils Le Puy, offering an origin certificate. Lentils Le Puy are exported to more than 40 countries. They are famous for their exquisite red soil, on which they are cultivated and the dry winds of the area’s micro climate.
Lentil LePuy is an annual plant and its fruit contains two seeds. The deep green colour with metallic, blue shadows is caused by the presence of anthocyanin, an element common in blueberries and black grapes.
The certification conditions for this product reject the use of the same seed for two years in a row. Irrigation and the use of fertilizers are also forbidden, In an effort to maintain the perfect environment that helps this cultivation prosper, the traditional methods of farming are used until today,
Sowing takes place from March to April, when the soil has a temperature of 5 Celsius, traditionally at the last phases of the moon, that benefits the seed growth. The gathering of the fruit takes place from the 20th of July until the 15th of September.
Lentil is one of the first plants that were cultivated by humans and they can be spotted in Auvergne from the Roman age. Archaeological excavations have brought to light a roman amphora full of seeds, among which there were lentil seeds too. The cultivation of lentils was so widely spread during 1930 in the area when the Russian botanologist Helena Barulinda worked, that she gave it the name “Lens culinaris puyensis” from the city Le Puy.
The fame of the green lentil brought so many merchants to the area, that Haute Loire became a famous meeting place for dried vegetables merchants. Its great fame, lead some merchants to import lentils from Germany and Russian labeled as Le Puy. This fraud attempts lead the farmers to take actions and in 1935 they used legal means in order to protect the name. The court’s decision was just the beginning for the protection, promotion and amelioration of the ”green pearl” quality.
In 1996 Le Puy green lentils became the first vegetable to receive a AOC certificate.
The next year Regis Marcon faced Michel Roth in the “Ritz” restaurant in a competition that required the preparation of 12 dishes based on Le Puy lentils, under the supervision of a committee of experts among whom Paul Bocuse, Bernard Loiseau and Georges Blanc.
Lentils Le PUY in CUISINE
Lentils LE PUY are perfect as a main dish or mixed in a salad during summertime. They are also perfect when used in soups or casserole dishes in a traditional, French dish during winter.
They have to be boiled with water at a 1 to 3 ratio for 15-20 minutes.