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Lentil confusion


Arey

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I buy bags of "French Green Lentils" at a local market, the only place that has them where I am. They are mostly tiny dark green lentils with dark blue blotches, mixed in with equally tiny dark brown, and tan lentils.

On the internet, I've found Lentils du Puy which are more expensive, and Le Puy Lentils (AOC) which are the most expensive ($11.95 for 1 lb +$9.95 shipping and handling.

Is there enough difference in the quality and taste of the generic French green Lentils I buy and the Le Puy (AOC) lentils to justify the expenditure? I have a very poor sense of smell, and a not particularly sensitive palate so I don't like to buy expensive food items where I might not be able to tell the difference anyway.

"A fool", he said, "would have swallowed it". Samuel Johnson

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Is there enough difference in the quality and taste of the generic French green Lentils I buy and the Le Puy (AOC) lentils to justify the expenditure?

I use 'French green' or 'Speckled green' (which in my case come from Canada) or Puy lentils interchangeably and don't notice any significant difference. They're the same thing (Lens esculenta puyensis, if you want to get geeky about it) grown in different places. If anything, I prefer the Canadian, which also happen to be the cheapest. The key is that they should be small, dark green with dark blue speckles. Here's a photo: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/File:Puy_lentils_wooden_bowl.jpg

If you've got brown and tan lentils mixed in, they're probably not all the same kind or quality.

Hong Kong Dave

O que nao mata engorda.

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Thanks for the the information. The French lentils I have are shown below. Sorry about the blurryness, but I took the picture on my dining room table using my macro lens without using a tripod. I'll have to look around the internet for a better quality lentil to plop my salmon down on.

Lentils 009(B) (2).jpg

"A fool", he said, "would have swallowed it". Samuel Johnson

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Arey, I guess a good analogy would be, do you justify the expense and prefer the taste of a good French champagne vs a good local substitute? The AOC du puy green lentils are chemical free and have an earthier flavor because of the volcanic soil they're grown in, but Canada is now the worlds biggest producer/exporter of french green lentils (>70% world production). I think you can safely buy your local ones without any noticable difference in flavor, texture or color and your Salmon is long past caring.

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