BOTANICAL NAME: Lathyrus sativus
FAMILY: Fabaceae
Vetches are legumes that once belonged to the genus Vicia, which included such diverse garden vegetables as fava beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils. The chickling vetch, which is closely related to the garden pea, is still called a vetch even though it has been reassigned to the genus Lathyrus. The word chickling evolved in the eighteenth century as a corruption of cicecula, its name in Latin, which means a “little chickpea.” In England chickling vetches were mostly raised as fodder, but in the Mediterranean region they were commonly eaten as a pulse (edible seeds). In fact, chickling vetch is an ancient food and one of the important horta, or wild greens, so important to Mediterranean diet.
Six-thousand-year-old seeds have been excavated at a site near Jarmo, Turkey, which may give some idea of how long people have been eating this legume in the eastern Mediterranean. Just when it was brought under cultivation in Cypriot gardens is difficult to document, but we may be assured that it has been both gathered from the wild and selectively cultivated since the days of Homer. The peas are also known as kesari dhal in India, where two types of kesari are distinguished: the small-seeded lakhori and the large-seeded lakh. In fact, chickling vetches have been raised in many countries from India to the Mediterranean for thousands of years. In Italy, where the vetch is known as cicerchia, the plant has been rediscovered by upscale chefs looking for “real food” from the land.
Six-thousand-year-old seeds have been excavated at a site near Jarmo, Turkey, and it was not long after that ancient Cypriots counted this legume among their foods.
The ancient Greeks were quite aware of the chickling’s culinary value, for they called it làthyros meaning “grass pea.” In modern Greek, it is known as lathouri. The Cypriot name louvana is generic in that it does not specifically mean one variety or the other. (There are several.) In fact, the Cypriot chicklings are really landraces, grown together in patches that cross freely, so a handful of seeds will yield any number of variations. These differences are not critical since it is the leaves rather than the seeds that are commonly eaten. The root of louvana is lopo or lopos, an ancient Greek word for a husk or shell, doubtless in reference to the chickling seed pods—the letter p in ancient Greek often evolved into a v in Cypriot. The Latin cognate of this is lupinus (wolf pea), the white lupine of Mediterranean cookery with which louvana should not be confused.
Louvana is quite popular in Cyprus as an ingredient in spring omelets. The rule of thumb is ten stems per egg. The vetch greens are first wilted with olive oil in a skillet; then the beaten eggs are poured over them. It is quite flavorful and in this simple form probably resembles similar egg preparations made by rural Greeks for thousands of years. Likewise, the Cypriots, who have had a long historical association with the culture of Egypt, have evolved their own version of foul meddames (page 86) that includes peas from louvana. Fava beans, like the Egyptian variety discussed on page 85, are soaked overnight and then boiled with chopped onion, tomato, and split louvana peas until the whole mixture becomes quite tender. It is then drained, mixed with olive oil or butter, lemon juice, tahini, ground cumin, and chopped hard-boiled eggs. Chopped louvana greens are sometimes added right before the dish is brought to the table. On the quays of Larnaca or Paphos, one is likely to hear Cypriots call out “Kopiaste” when they eat comforting meals like this. It means “Come share this food with me.” Say “Efharisto,” and join in.