Louvi me Lahana

Cypriot black-eyed peas boiled with chard and dressed at the table with olive oil, lemon, and salt

Origin: Nicosia & Cyprus

From the journey of Cowpea.

Louvi me lahana, black-eyed peas with chard, is Cypriot home cooking at its plainest and one of the dishes by which the island knows itself. The louvi are boiled until almost soft, the first water is poured away, and the chard, lahana, goes in to cook with them until both are tender; nothing more happens in the pot. The dressing is left to the table, where each person pours on olive oil, squeezes over lemon, and salts to taste, and the peas are eaten warm or at room temperature with tomatoes, olives, and bread. The Cyprus Food Museum, which documents the dish from the nineteenth century onwards, notes that wild greens can take the place of the chard. It is cheap, filling, and meatless, which suits both the Orthodox fasting days and the ordinary week, and it is eaten often. The word louvi descends from the medieval Greek lobion, the same word that became the Arabic lūbiyā, and the island's cowpeas belong to the Mediterranean stock that geneticists find distinct from the West African.

Ingredients

Louvi

  • 400 g dried black-eyed peas (louvi)
  • 400 g Swiss chard (lahana), or wild greens
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

To Serve

  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, to serve
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges
  • Black pepper, tomatoes, olives, and bread

Method

  1. Pick over and rinse the black-eyed peas. Put them in a pan of boiling water and boil for 5 to 10 minutes, then drain and discard the water.
  2. Return the peas to the pan, cover with fresh water by about 5 cm, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until almost soft, skimming off any foam.
  3. Meanwhile, wash the chard. Cut the stalks into 2 cm pieces and roughly chop the leaves.
  4. Add the chard stalks to the peas and cook for 5 minutes, then add the leaves and cook for a further 5 to 8 minutes until the peas and greens are tender.
  5. Drain, keeping a few spoonfuls of the cooking water to keep the peas moist. Season with the salt and lemon juice.
  6. Serve warm or at room temperature, with olive oil, lemon wedges, and black pepper on the table for each person to add, and tomatoes, olives, and bread alongside.

Notes

The dressing belongs at the table rather than in the pot, and a good olive oil is worth using here. Spinach can stand in for the chard, but add it only in the last 2 minutes.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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