FAKES
Fakes is a humble, hearty Greek lentil stew, think glossy brown lentils simmered with caramelised onions, garlicky tomatoes, a splash of red wine vinegar and lashings of olive oil until it’s saucy, silky and utterly moreish. It’s often finished with oregano and a squeeze of lemon, served warm with crusty bread or feta crumbled on top.
Traditionally associated with rustic, everyday cooking across mainland Greece (especially in central and northern regions where lentils were a staple), fakes embodies peasant comfort food cheap, nutritious and endlessly adaptable. It’s a poor person’s dish, and many of those cheap greek dishes are the most delicious around. A dish you would hate as a kid, is now I run to every winter. The key to fakes is the acidic tang from various vinegars that get cooked into the lentils and then finish the dish. It works so well with the other ingredients, it really is a triumph of the acid.
FAKES
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FAKES 〰️
(Greek Lentil Soup)
Time: 1 hour & 20 minutes
Serves: 5-6
500gm brown lentils
1 bunch thin carrots, washed, diced and leafy tops reserved
1 brown onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, halved
3 tbl sp dried oregano
1 tbl sp dried parsley
1 tbl sp dried thyme
1 tbl sp cracked black pepper
2 bay leaf
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup + 1 tbl sp red wine vinegar
3 tbl sp vinegar
3 tbl sp white wine vinegar
Salt, to taste
Rinse lentils and then put them in a pot with cold water so that they are submerged. Bring to the boil and then drain your lentils through a sieve removing the first batch of water.
Pop lentils back into your pot with brown onion, carrots, oregano, parsley, thyme, black pepper and big pinch of sea salt. Top with cold water so that it covers your mixture by one thumb. Place on hight heat and bring to a high boil.
Once high boil is reached, add your crushed tomatoes, olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 2 tbl sp white vinegar, 1 tbl sp white wine vinegar and another pinch of salt and bring to a high simmer. Simmer on low-medium with the lid on for 30 minutes. Remove your lid to let your fakes thicken and simmer until your lentils are tender (10-15 minutes).
In you last few minutes of cooking add in a tbl sp of red wine vinegar, 1 tbl sp vinegar and 1 tbl sp white wine vinegar and season to taste with salt. Stir all of this through before removing from heat.
Stir through rough chopped carrot top leaves and season to your taste. Serve with crusty bread.