Marlene's Lentil Stew

A fact that you may or may not know about me is that I want to BE Marlene Dietrich. I mean, come on: that voice! Those legs! Those eyebrows! And a fact that you may or may not know about Marlene is that she loved to cook. In fact, Marlene was such a foodie that a book was recently published in Germany, full of her own recipes, stories about her life and her relationship with food, and the recipes of the chef, Markus Auer, who cooked for her during her last years in Paris. The book is called “Ick will wat Feinet”: Das etwas andere Kochbuch, and sadly for those of you who don’t speak German, it hasn’t been translated into English yet. But have no fear! Highball Emy's is here to help!

Marlene lived her last years out in Paris, where she was often cooked for by Markus Auer, the head chef of a restaurant called the Maison d’Allemagne. The book is full of great stories of her ringing him up at all hours and demanding various traditional German dishes. This particular dish is called Linseneintopf mit Frankfurter Würstchen, or lentil stew with Frankfurter sausages. I decided that this was a recipe to vegetarianise, and it makes a really filling, warming, healthy stew - perfect for this horrible cold snap!

The story that goes with this recipe is one that made me smile: in March 1984, Marlene complained during an interview with the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that getting real German sausages – specifically Frankfurters! – was impossible in Paris. She used to serve them with champagne for breakfast.  It was not long later that Marlene received this letter (my translation)...

25^th June, 1984

Dear Gracious Lady,

We discovered with sorrow from the March 1984 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that you are unable to find original Frankfuter sausages in the whole of Paris, and that the sausages there are not to your taste.

                Under no circumstances do we want you and your friends to have to forgo your former “crispy treats,” sweetened with a glass of champagne.

                We would be very happy if you were able to eat your little champagne breakfast again, and would allow us to send you two packages by separate post. One package with five packages of fresh of original Frankfurter sausages, which can be kept for 4-6 weeks in a fridge, and one package with two glasses of preserves , which will keep for a long time. Please excuse the small packages, but larger ones cause Customs problems.

                If our original Frankfurter sausages please you, please send us just a short message, and we would be happy to send you a monthly package of our original Frankfurter sausages from our own stores.

                We wish you bon appétit and look forward to hearing from you

She wrote back full of thanks, asking for further packages of sausages – but with the bill! Well, Marlene got more sausages – but the company never allowed her to pay for them.

Now, Frankfurters may not be the order of the day for us veggies, but a stew endorsed by la Dietrich herself? Who can turn that down? So let’s get cooking!

For two generous portions, you need:

Lentils. The original recipe recommends brown lentils (which you will need to soak), but I use a tin of green lentils for ease with a similar earthy flavour!

One big potato

Butter (or vegan margarine, of course!), or a butter-cooking alternative, such as Fry Light Better Than Butter

1-2 bay leaves

2 shallots

The German recipe advises using Suppengrün, which is a bunch of vegetables you buy especially for making soup. You can use any combination of earthy, “soupy” veg, I’d suggest two carrots, a parsnip, and a kohlrabi (I couldn’t get a kohlrabi in time, but you have no excuse!)

A pinch of salt

A pinch of pepper

A pinch of sugar

A pinch of nutmeg

The original recipe doesn’t include it, but I think this needs some vegetable stock of some kind – use your favourite!

Four of your favourite vegan or veggie sausages – I used Quorn sausages (which contain small amounts of egg, so vegans beware!)

The recipe also suggests adding two tablespoons of cream, but I didn’t want to add that much sugar and fat to an otherwise very healthy dish! It also suggests adding bacon. I am going to try this with smoked tofu in place of the bacon sometime soon...

If you want to see the original recipe and can't get hold of the book, head on over to the lovely Susan's blog - she posted it here.

If you aren’t using canned lentils like I did, make sure you soak and cook the lentils according to the package instructions. That might take a while, so be organised (or be lazy, like me ;)).

Get chopping! Chop up the shallots, then the carrots, parsnips, potatoes (you can peel or not peel!), and kohlrabi.

In a saucepan, melt the butter or spritz on plenty of Fry Light, and chuck in the veg and potatoes to let them start softening and adding flavour (don’t let them catch though, or they’ll ruin your pan!) – they probably need to fry for about 7 minutes. Add in water to cover, then add the vegetable stock and the bay leaves, and let the whole thing boil, then simmer for about half an hour.

Whilst it’s simmering, grill the sausages until they’re well-done, then chop into little chunks.  For the last five minutes of the simmering time, add the sausage and the cooked lentils.

Finally, add in the spices and seasonings (and cream, if you want it), give the whole thing a good stir, and serve!

Did you know that Marlene was such an avid cook? Have you ever tried German food? I hope that you'll try this and let me know what you think!

Love,

Emy

xxx