In the midst of an economic depression, Greeks have turned to a traditional staple – lentils:
Those who still have their jobs, even if they’ve seen their incomes plunge by a third or more, consider themselves lucky. But they no longer stock up on pork chops and imported Gouda cheese, as they did in better times. They eat out less too. On TV, there has been an explosion of “cook-on-the-cheap” shows, including one in which a portly, smiling chef teaches you how to make five elaborate three-course meals for just 50 euros a week. There’s also a bestselling cookbook, Starvation Recipes, based on tips from Greeks who survived the famine of World War II. (Sample: Save bread crumbs from the table in a jar to eat later.)
A recent Kapa Research poll found that 71 percent of Greeks find it difficult to get by on their current income. In supermarkets, shoppers talk about the prices — spending on groceries dropped 8 percent just in the first six months of last year, compared with the same period in 2011 — and about how little money is left over to pay property taxes and electricity bills. So everyone buys lentils.
And why shouldn’t they? A steal at a little more than $1.50 a pound today, lentils were born in Greece. Evidence of cultivation has been found in caves dating as far back as 11,000 B.C. They are ours, and they fueled an empire.
The Dish 