3 days ago
Beluga Lentil Caviar Is A Luxurious Snack On A Picnic Budget
To understand exactly why comedian Mamrie Hart's recipe for beluga lentil caviar is so fun, it helps to clarify a few things.
First off, there are no beluga whales involved in the making of beluga caviar. The fish eggs that are harvested from beluga sturgeon to make this particularly fine and expensive variety of caviar are so named for the white markings and belly of that species of fish. The word 'beluga' shares a root with the Russian word for white.
Second, beluga lentils have nothing to do with fish eggs, or fish in general, aside from the fact that the plump, black legumes look a little like a giant lump of caviar.
Hart's recipe - which takes the luxurious presentation of caviar and applies it to the humble black lentil - is like a telephone game of culinary associations that happens to result in a lovely snack for a dinner party or a summer picnic.
On a fundamental level, caviar is just a dip. These lentils, seasoned with dashi and caper brine to give a hint of the ocean, are a dip, too. They just happen to be quite a bit more affordable.
(MORE: On The French Riviera, Gazpacho Tastes Like Summer)
By my calculations, a pound of beluga caviar costs roughly one thousand times more than a pound of beluga lentils. 'Feel free to use the real stuff if you married rich and love it, but in this case . . . we are using lentils!' Hart writes.
The recipe comes from her irreverent cookbook All I Think About Is Food, published in April by W.W. Norton & Co., which channels the comedian's warm personality into a decadent but uncomplicated approach to vegetarian cooking. Hart explains that the cookbook was born of her own culinary obsession, 'You could be having a very serious conversation with me, and I'll look fully immersed. I could be nodding along and even reaching over to hold your hand in support, but, mentally, I'm deciding what soup to make tomorrow.'
Beluga Lentil Caviar
Ingredients
1 cup dried black beluga lentils
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups water
1 tablespoon vegan dashi powder
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon caper brine
A few dashes of your favorite hot sauce, I prefer Cholula with this
Salt
Pepper
Pringles for serving
Instructions
Rinse the lentils thoroughly. In a medium pot, add a tablespoon or so of olive oil and sauté the garlic for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the water to the pot and bring to a boil. If you're going for full ocean flavor, add your dashi here. Once the water is bubbling, add the lentils and turn down the heat to a simmer. Cover for 15 to 20 minutes.
Once the lentils are tender but holding their shape, drain any remaining water and mix in the capers, soy sauce, brine, and hot sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve in your fanciest dish with your finest Pringles and start talking in a pompous accent.
Excerpted from ALL I THINK ABOUT IS FOOD by Mamrie Hart, copyright © 2025, reprinted by permission of Countryman Press, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Co., Inc. All rights reservedMORE ON
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