Louvia

Ingredients

Peas

• 400 gdried black-eyed peas
• rinsed and picked over
• water, for cooking

Greens

• 500 gchard
• or spinach or wild greens
• leaves and stems separated

To dress

• juice of 2 lemons
• 100 mlgood olive oil
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• black pepper

To serve

• 1onion, sliced very thin
• olives
• bread
• grilled or salted fish, optional

Directions

1. Use the best olive oil you have. Louvana is the thick split pea soup. Rinse the black-eyed peas in cold water. Pick out any stones or damaged peas. Rinse them until the water runs clear. Cover them with cold water for an hour. Drain and rinse them afterwards. Put the peas into a large deep pot.
2. Cover them well with fresh water. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Let it boil hard for ten minutes. Skim off any of the foam that rises. Cooking them on takes a little time. Cover the pot and let it cook on. Give them about thirty minutes. Check them from twenty-five minutes. Judging the peas takes a taste.
3. Wash the chard thoroughly in cold water. Swish it in a bowl of cold water. Lift it out rather than pouring off. Repeat it all two or three times. Cut the stems from the leaves.
4. Chop the stems into short pieces. Chop all the leaves up roughly. Add the chopped stems to the pot. Let them cook for about ten minutes. Add the chopped leaves to the pot. Let them wilt and cook right down. Give them about ten full minutes.
5. Add them in handfuls if the pot is full. Judging it takes a careful look. Drain off most of the cooking liquid. Leave a little of it in the pot. It is closer to a warm salad than a soup. Leave just enough to keep it moist. Some cooks keep the cooking water. Add the salt and black pepper. Stir it through them all gently.
6. Stir gently rather than vigorously. Turn them over rather than stirring. Let it cool for about ten minutes. It is served warm rather than hot. Warm is the right temperature for it. Squeeze the lemon juice over it. Pour the olive oil over generously.
7. Turn it through them all gently. A hundred millilitres is not too much. Taste it and adjust the lemon. Add more salt if it still needs it. It should be clearly lemony and oily. Slice the onion as thinly as you can. Soak it in cold water for ten minutes. Drain it thoroughly afterwards. That takes the harshness out of it.
8. Spoon it out into a shallow dish. Scatter the thin raw onion over it. Serve olives alongside it as well. Serve fresh bread alongside it. That is done outside strict fasting days.

Technique

• Black-eyed peas hold their shape rather than collapsing, which is what this dish wants; louvana with split peas is the collapsed soup, and the two Cypriot fasting dishes share a name root but differ entirely in texture.
• Lemon is added at the very end, since acid slows the softening of pulses and adding it early keeps them firm; the olive oil is poured on raw and generously and is the whole flavour of the dish, so use the best you have.
• Chard stems take longer than the leaves, so separate them and add the stems ten minutes earlier; adding them together leaves the stems crunchy against fully cooked leaves.

Substitutions

• Spinach or wild greens stand in for chard depending on the season.
• The drained cooking water is kept and drunk separately as a broth in some households.

Variations

• Grilled or salted fish is eaten with it outside strict fasting days.
• Louvana, the split pea soup, is the other Cypriot fasting standard.
• It is eaten warm or cold, and both are good.

History

Black-eyed peas boiled with chard and dressed with lemon and olive oil, a Lenten and fasting dish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Louvia?

Louvia is a salad & side from Cyprus: black-eyed peas with chard, lemon, olive oil. Black-eyed peas boiled with chard and dressed with lemon and olive oil, a Lenten and fasting dish.

How long does Louvia take to make?

Louvia takes 15 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Louvia?

Yes, within limits. Spinach or wild greens stand in for chard depending on the season. The drained cooking water is kept and drunk separately as a broth in some households.

What is the most important thing to get right in Louvia?

Wash the chard thoroughly in cold water. Swish it in a bowl of cold water. Lift it out rather than pouring off. Repeat it all two or three times. Cut the stems from the leaves.