Barley and, in no particular order, emmer and einkorn, wheat, rice, sorghum, peanuts, squash, cassava, lentils, chickpeas, bitter vetch and flax are the so-called founder crops that formed the basis of early agricultural economies in the various centres of domestication all over the planet. My first thought when I read this list of ingredients was: “What a fantastic soup!” And my second was: “What is bitter vetch?” The answer is it’s an ancient legume in the expansive Vicia genus that’s related to broad beans, although physically closer to the lentil and, taste-wise, nearer to a pea, only bitter. So, if you do make the founder crop soup, remember to parboil the bitter vetch several times, changing the water in between, before adding it to the soup. A small, portable oil press is also helpful, if you want to go all the way and turn flax seeds into oil, but remember to warm it gently.
Alternatively, this week’s recipe is a pared-down version – an abridged founder crop soup, if you like – that is also extremely delicious and exactly what I wanted to eat this week, when the wind brought the rain through the double doors and across the kitchen.
